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The worst flood in the history of St. Petersburg
“That dreadful day!
For Neva leaping seaward all night against the blast,
Was beaten in the strife at last
Against the frantic tempest sweeping...
...Behold Petropol floating lie,
Like Triton in the deep, waist-high”.
A.S. Pushkin, “The Bronze Horseman” (1833)
(Translation by Waclaw Lednicki)
On November 7 (19) 1824 in St Petersburg happened the largest flood in the history of the city — on that day the maximum level of water in the Neva River reached 421 m above the normal level. The flood described by A.S. Pushkin in his poem “The Bronze Horseman” caused the death of thousands of residents and a huge damage to the city.
The first large flood in the history of St. Petersburg occurred in August 1703 when water rose up to 200 cm. In September 1777 a rapid rise of water reaching 310 cm above the normal level resulted in numerous casualties and destructions.
The flooding of 1824 became the most catastrophic for the city judging by its scale and aftermath.
On the eve of the element’s onslaught on November 6 (18) there was a strong wind blowing hard from the Gulf of Finland. By the evening the weather was getting worse and water started flowing to the Neva River, it was at night that the storm broke. Early in the morning on the Admiralty tower were lit signal lights, which warned residents of St. Petersburg about the threat of flooding. In a few hours the Neva River, as well as other rivers and canals overflowed their banks, even where there were high embankments. The whole city, except for Liteynaya and Rozhdestvenskaya parts, was flooded almost to the man’s height.
Especially from the disaster suffered low wooden houses, which were blown away by the pressure of the water. This is what the witnesses wrote about the flood: “It was hardly possible to describe the sight. The Winter Palace was like a rock among the stormy sea, standing from all sides the onslaught of waves, with a roar bumping against its solid walls and spraying splashes almost up to the top floor; water in the Neva River was boiling like in the pot, and with a an incredible force reversed the flow of the river... On the square opposite the palace there was another picture: beneath the sky, which was almost black, dark greenish water was whirling like in a huge whirlpool...”
By 3 p.m. water started going down, while at night the streets were completely cleared from it. The damage caused by flooding was estimated several million rubles. After the disaster active measures were taken to alleviate the plight of victims: bread and warm clothes were provided in the streets, in hospitals and private houses were founded temporary shelters. The Emperor Alexander I granted one million rubles to be distributed among the poor, and many individuals followed his example.
After that flood there were several major risings of water in Petersburg however the level of 1824 remained a record in the history of the city.
Lit.: Аллер С. Описание наводнения, бывшего в Санктпетербурге 7 числа ноября 1824 года. СПб., 1826; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL: http://books.google.ru/books?id=eWZKAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source= gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false; Берх В. Н. Подробное историческое известие о всех наводнениях, бывших в Санктпетербурге. СПб., 1826; Бочаров А. А. Балтийский флот и петербургское наводнение 1824 г. // История Петербурга. 2009. № 1 (47). С. 85-88; То же [Электронный ресурс]. URL:http://www.mirpeterburga.ru/online/history/archive/47/history_spb_47_85-88.pdf; Каратыгин П. П. Летопись петербургских наводнений 1703-1879. СПб., 1889; Померанец К. С. Три века петербургских наводнений. СПб., 2005; «Частные случаи петербургского наводнения» // Фомичев С. Грибоедов. Энциклопедия. СПб., 2007. С. 371-373.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Веселаго Ф. Ф. Краткая история Русского флота. Вып. 1-2. СПб., 1893. С. 431-434;