1990 FLOOD

A lesson still not learnt

By Richard Beckett

Throughout January and February in 1990 there had been almost continuous rain with high tides and strong onshore winds, all of which combined to cause flooding of the River Ouse up at Lewes and beyond. The threat to Lewes was so severe that the Authorities took the decision to cut through the river bank just below the bridge at Southease and flood the adjacent fields on both side of the railway to lessen the impact. The subsequent effect was to form a lake, which stretched virtually from Glynde Reach down as far as North Quay. AND still the planners consider building on the flood plain on Eastside at Newhaven together with a proposal to form a flood defence bank north of the town to back the floodwater up to Lewes and beyond. These pictures are from the archives of the Newhaven Historical Society and from other sources.