St Petersburg - A history of FLoods
From it's early history, St Petersburg was a hotspot for floods. During the city's construction in 1703 and in later construction of St Petersburg palace, unfinished buildings were swept away by the raging flood waters of the Neva River and the ocean. Situated only a few meters above sea level, St Petersburg has been the location of around 270 floods in its relatively short history, the most destructive of these in 1824 and 1924 where water levels reached around 4 meters.
Causes
St Petersburg is a country full of water, being in close situation to both the Neva River which ends near the Gulf of Finland, and the Gulf of Mexico. The Neva River's flat bottom, shallow river bed and also narrowing of the river around the Gulf of Finland mean that even small extra amounts of water can cause areas that are close to the Neva River's banks to flood, hence the large amount of floods in the St Petersburg area. Atlantic low pressure air masses move towards St Petersburg from the west creating water movements known as 'long waves. These types of waves are known to flood rivers and coastal areas as they carry more water, travel longer distances and are typically longer than normal waves as they have more time at sea to grow. Cyclones that originate in the Baltic Sea can bring large amounts of water to areas around St Petersburg and flood rivers and St Petersburg's formerly singular dam. In recent years, the government of St Petersburg has started a flood aware initiative and built 11 dams to protect the city along with flood gates, a new major highway and 6 floodwater sluices.