Floods in Saint Petersburg
Encyclopedia
Floods in Saint Petersburg refer to a rise of water on the territory of St. Petersburg
, a major city in Russia
and its former capital. They are usually caused by the overflow of the delta of Neva River
and surging water in the eastern part of Neva Bay
but sometimes caused by melting snow. Floods are registered when the water rises above 160 cm with respect to a gauge at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
. More than 300 floods have occurred since the city was founded in 1703.
The construction of Saint Petersburg Dam
, started in 1978 and completed in 2011, is expected to protect the city from devastating floods. The dam is the last completed part of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road
.
s, originating in the Baltic Sea
with a prevalence of west winds, induce a "slow" matched Kelvin wave
to rise and move towards the delta of Neva River where it meets the natural river flow moving in the opposite direction. The water level rises because of the shallowness of Neva Bay, flatness of its bottom and the narrowing of the Gulf of Finland
near the delta. Seiche
s, onset
s and another factors also contribute to the floods. Besides flooding as a result of tidal waves, in 1903, 1921 and 1956 floods were caused by the melting of snow.
The first flood in St. Petersburg city occurred 3 months after its founding, on the night of 19 to 20 August 1703. The water rose more than 2 meters. The water rose much higher on 20 September 1706, which in his letter to Alexander Menshikov
, Peter I
described as "the west-south-west wind brought the flood undescribed before. In my offices, it stood 21 inches above the floor, and people traveled by boats through the city streets. Yet it did not last long, less than 3 hours. And it was amusing to see people on the roofs and trees... Water was high, but didn't cause much harm ".
Engineering measures were instituted in the early 18th century, and the central part of the city was flooded by only 130–150 cm. Floods are registered in St. Petersburg when water rises above 160 cm at the level gauge at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
; floods up to 210 cm are considered dangerous, up to 299 cm very dangerous and above 300 cm catastrophic. Of the 324 floods in the history of St. Petersburg, three were catastrophic.
Most floods occur in between September and December. Between 1703 and 2003, 324 floods were recorded with the height above 160 cm, of which 210 were higher than 210 cm. Some years have had several floods (five in 1752), and there are periods in which no flooding occurred (e.g. 1744–1752).
by Alexander Pushkin.
A recent large flood (239 cm) occurred on 8–9 January 2005 caused by the cyclone Erwin. Six metro stations were closed. There were three floods in 2008, all below 200 centimeters.
!class="sortable"|
!class="sortable"|Chronological
No.
!class="unsortable"|Date
(New style
)
!class="sortable"|Water level
cm
!class="unsortable"|Peak hour
|-
|1
|84
|7 November 1824
|421
|14:00
|-
|2
|210
|23 September 1924
|380
|19:15
|-
|3
|71
|9 September 1777
|321
|morning
|-
|4
|244
|15 October 1955
|293
|20:45
|-
|5
|264
|29 September 1975
|281
|4:00
|-
|6
|39
|22 October 1752
|280
|10:00
|-
|7
|9>
|8
|14
|9
|183
|9:00
|-
|10
|7
|11
|86
|night
|-
|12
|3
|daytime
|-
|13
|319
|30 November 1999
|262
|4:35
|-
|14
|25
|
|-
|15
|298
|6 December 1986
|260
|13:30
|-
|16
|215
|15 October 1929
|258
|17:15
|-
|18
|83
|night
|-
|19
|144
|4:00
|-
|20
|55
|21
|201
|6:50
|-
|22
|254
|18 October 1967
|244
|13:30
|-
|23
|45
|24
|136
|25
|175
|12:00
|-
|26
|261
|17 November 1974
|242
|1:00
|-
|27
|177
|26 November 1898
|240
|23:30
|-
|28
|260
|20 December 1973
|240
|7:15
|-
|29
|219
|8 January 1932
|239
|3:00
|-
|30
|225
|8 October 1935
|239
|5:50
|-
|31
|18
|10:00
|-
|32
|76
|33
|145
|4:00
|-
|34
|171
|3:00
|-
|35
|227
|9 September 1937
|236
|5:30
|-
|36
|37
|37
|41
|12:00
|-
|38
|43
|39
|228
|14 September 1938
|233
|2:25
|-
|40
|269
|7 September 1977
|231
|16:50
|-
|41
|292
|1 January 1984
|231
|21:20
|-
|42
|125
|10:00
|-
|43
|208
|24 November 1922
|228
|19:15
|-
|44
|315
|12 October 1994
|228
|13:50
|-
|45
|116
|2:00
|-
|46
|211
|3 January 1925
|225
|21:30
|-
|47
|81
|daytime
|-
|48
|122
|9:10
|-
|49
|202
|24 August 1918
|224
|9:10
|-
|50
|242
|14 October 1954
|222
|21:00
protecting St. Petersburg from the floods began in 1979 but was halted in the 1990s when 60% was completed. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin
had resumed construction in 2005 and, as Prime Minister of Russia
, inaugurated the completed dam on 12 August 2011.
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
, a major city in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and its former capital. They are usually caused by the overflow of the delta of Neva River
Neva River
The Neva is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length , it is the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge .The Neva is the only river flowing from Lake...
and surging water in the eastern part of Neva Bay
Neva Bay
The Neva Bay , also known as the Gulf of Kronstadt, is the easternmost part of the Gulf of Finland between Kotlin Island and the Neva River estuary where the city of St. Petersburg is sited....
but sometimes caused by melting snow. Floods are registered when the water rises above 160 cm with respect to a gauge at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
The G. V. Plekhanov Saint Petersburg State Mining Institute and Technical University is Russia's oldest higher education institute devoted to engineering...
. More than 300 floods have occurred since the city was founded in 1703.
The construction of Saint Petersburg Dam
Saint Petersburg Dam
The Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex , unofficially the Saint Petersburg Dam, is a complex of dams for flood control near Saint Petersburg, Russia...
, started in 1978 and completed in 2011, is expected to protect the city from devastating floods. The dam is the last completed part of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road
Saint Petersburg Ring Road
The Saint Petersburg Ring Road is an 88-mile orbital freeway encircling Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the only beltway around the city. The St. Petersburg Ring Road in the Russian road numbering system is listed as the federal public road A-118.-Construction:The need for the construction of a...
.
Causes
Floods in St. Petersburg are caused by several factors. CycloneCyclone
In meteorology, a cyclone is an area of closed, circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth. This is usually characterized by inward spiraling winds that rotate anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth. Most large-scale...
s, originating in the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
with a prevalence of west winds, induce a "slow" matched Kelvin wave
Kelvin wave
A Kelvin wave is a wave in the ocean or atmosphere that balances the Earth's Coriolis force against a topographic boundary such as a coastline, or a waveguide such as the equator. A feature of a Kelvin wave is that it is non-dispersive, i.e., the phase speed of the wave crests is equal to the...
to rise and move towards the delta of Neva River where it meets the natural river flow moving in the opposite direction. The water level rises because of the shallowness of Neva Bay, flatness of its bottom and the narrowing of the Gulf of Finland
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland and Estonia all the way to Saint Petersburg in Russia, where the river Neva drains into it. Other major cities around the gulf include Helsinki and Tallinn...
near the delta. Seiche
Seiche
A seiche is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs, swimming pools, bays, harbors and seas...
s, onset
Onset
Onset may refer to:*Onset , the beginning of a musical note or sound*Interonset interval, a term in music*Syllable onset, a term in phonetics and phonology*Onset, Massachusetts, village in the United States...
s and another factors also contribute to the floods. Besides flooding as a result of tidal waves, in 1903, 1921 and 1956 floods were caused by the melting of snow.
History
Prior to the founding of St. Petersburg in 1703, the largest flood occurred in 1691. Swedish annals report that the water covered the entire area of the present St. Petersburg by 25 feet (7.62 meters). Knowing about frequent floods from the locals, the Swedes laid the fortress Nyenschantz and the city of Nyen away from the delta upstream of the Neva River, at the confluence of the river Ohta to Neva.The first flood in St. Petersburg city occurred 3 months after its founding, on the night of 19 to 20 August 1703. The water rose more than 2 meters. The water rose much higher on 20 September 1706, which in his letter to Alexander Menshikov
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimus, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora , Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, Duke of Cosel. A highly appreciated associate and friend of Tsar Peter the Great, he was the de facto ruler of...
, Peter I
Peter I of Russia
Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...
described as "the west-south-west wind brought the flood undescribed before. In my offices, it stood 21 inches above the floor, and people traveled by boats through the city streets. Yet it did not last long, less than 3 hours. And it was amusing to see people on the roofs and trees... Water was high, but didn't cause much harm ".
Engineering measures were instituted in the early 18th century, and the central part of the city was flooded by only 130–150 cm. Floods are registered in St. Petersburg when water rises above 160 cm at the level gauge at the Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
Saint Petersburg Mining Institute
The G. V. Plekhanov Saint Petersburg State Mining Institute and Technical University is Russia's oldest higher education institute devoted to engineering...
; floods up to 210 cm are considered dangerous, up to 299 cm very dangerous and above 300 cm catastrophic. Of the 324 floods in the history of St. Petersburg, three were catastrophic.
Most floods occur in between September and December. Between 1703 and 2003, 324 floods were recorded with the height above 160 cm, of which 210 were higher than 210 cm. Some years have had several floods (five in 1752), and there are periods in which no flooding occurred (e.g. 1744–1752).
Largest floods
The following table lists the 50 largest floods between 1703 and 2003. The largest flood occurred in 1824 and killed several hundred people. This flood inspired the poem The Bronze HorsemanThe Bronze Horseman (poem)
The Bronze Horseman: A Petersburg Tale is a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin in 1833 about the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg. Widely considered to be Pushkin's most successful narrative poem, "The Bronze Horseman" has had a lasting impact on Russian...
by Alexander Pushkin.
A recent large flood (239 cm) occurred on 8–9 January 2005 caused by the cyclone Erwin. Six metro stations were closed. There were three floods in 2008, all below 200 centimeters.
!class="sortable"|Chronological
No.
!class="unsortable"|Date
(New style
Old Style and New Style dates
Old Style and New Style are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year has been adjusted to start on 1 January even though documents written at the time use a different start of year ; or to indicate that a date conforms to the Julian...
)
!class="sortable"|Water level
cm
!class="unsortable"|Peak hour
|-
|1
|84
|7 November 1824
|421
|14:00
|-
|2
|210
|23 September 1924
|380
|19:15
|-
|3
|71
|9 September 1777
|321
|morning
|-
|4
|244
|15 October 1955
|293
|20:45
|-
|5
|264
|29 September 1975
|281
|4:00
|-
|6
|39
|22 October 1752
|280
|10:00
|-
|7
|9>
|8
|14
|9
|183
|9:00
|-
|10
|7
|11
|86
|night
|-
|12
|3
|daytime
|-
|13
|319
|30 November 1999
|262
|4:35
|-
|14
|25
|
|-
|15
|298
|6 December 1986
|260
|13:30
|-
|16
|215
|15 October 1929
|258
|17:15
|-
|18
|83
|night
|-
|19
|144
|4:00
|-
|20
|55
|21
|201
|6:50
|-
|22
|254
|18 October 1967
|244
|13:30
|-
|23
|45
|24
|136
|25
|175
|12:00
|-
|26
|261
|17 November 1974
|242
|1:00
|-
|27
|177
|26 November 1898
|240
|23:30
|-
|28
|260
|20 December 1973
|240
|7:15
|-
|29
|219
|8 January 1932
|239
|3:00
|-
|30
|225
|8 October 1935
|239
|5:50
|-
|31
|18
|10:00
|-
|32
|76
|33
|145
|4:00
|-
|34
|171
|3:00
|-
|35
|227
|9 September 1937
|236
|5:30
|-
|36
|37
|37
|41
|12:00
|-
|38
|43
|39
|228
|14 September 1938
|233
|2:25
|-
|40
|269
|7 September 1977
|231
|16:50
|-
|41
|292
|1 January 1984
|231
|21:20
|-
|42
|125
|10:00
|-
|43
|208
|24 November 1922
|228
|19:15
|-
|44
|315
|12 October 1994
|228
|13:50
|-
|45
|116
|2:00
|-
|46
|211
|3 January 1925
|225
|21:30
|-
|47
|81
|daytime
|-
|48
|122
|9:10
|-
|49
|202
|24 August 1918
|224
|9:10
|-
|50
|242
|14 October 1954
|222
|21:00
Protective dam
Construction of a complex of damsSaint Petersburg Dam
The Saint Petersburg Flood Prevention Facility Complex , unofficially the Saint Petersburg Dam, is a complex of dams for flood control near Saint Petersburg, Russia...
protecting St. Petersburg from the floods began in 1979 but was halted in the 1990s when 60% was completed. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
had resumed construction in 2005 and, as Prime Minister of Russia
Prime Minister of Russia
The Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation The use of the term "Prime Minister" is strictly informal and is not allowed for by the Russian Constitution and other laws....
, inaugurated the completed dam on 12 August 2011.
See also
- Geography of Saint PetersburgGeography of Saint PetersburgSaint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. As of now the area of the city of Saint Petersburg proper is 605.8 km²...
- History of Saint PetersburgHistory of Saint PetersburgFounded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703, Saint Petersburg was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years . St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917.-The new capital:...
- The Bronze Horseman (poem)The Bronze Horseman (poem)The Bronze Horseman: A Petersburg Tale is a narrative poem written by Aleksandr Pushkin in 1833 about the equestrian statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg. Widely considered to be Pushkin's most successful narrative poem, "The Bronze Horseman" has had a lasting impact on Russian...