Presidential Library marks 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg's flood

200 years ago, on November 19 (November 7 according to the old style), 1824, the biggest flood in the history of St. Petersburg occurred. That day, the water level in the Neva River rose to 421 centimeters above normal. The disaster took the lives of thousands of citizens and caused massive damage to the city. This event is described in Alexander Pushkin's poem The Bronze Horseman.

The Chronicle of St. Petersburg Floods from 1703 to 1879 kept in the collection of the Presidential Library contains memories from eyewitnesses and describes how Russian emperors and citizens coped with the aftermath of the disaster. Peter Karatygin, the author of this book, says that floods in St. Petersburg were like eruptions in Vesuvius in Naples.

The first major flood in St. Petersburg's history occurred three months after its founding in 1703, when the water rose by 200 centimeters. This flood was a major disaster, causing numerous casualties and destruction, including damage to gardens and groves in the city. One particularly severe flood occurred during the reign of Catherine the Great in September 1777. The rapid rise of water led to great destruction, including the damage of many lime trees and fountains in the Summer Garden. On the eve of this storm, the Empress described the wind as "everything rushing into the air, tiles, iron sheets, glass, water, hail and snow."

After this flood, Catherine II issued a decree establishing special signs and signals in the city to notify of the beginning of a disaster. Three cannon shots informed that the water was approaching the shore. Red flags were raised on the tallest buildings during the day and "alarm" lanterns were lit at night. Additionally, a drummer walked the streets. If the water rose to a level that threatened to flood the city, Admiralty guns would fire five times.

Eyewitnesses to the flood of 1777 told their children that it was "even more devastating than the flood of 1824," but the latter is still more deeply etched in the memory of St. Petersburg residents. On the day before the elements struck, on November 6, a strong wind blew from the Gulf of Finland.

By evening, the weather had begun to worsen and water started to enter the Neva. At night, a storm broke out. In the early morning, signal lights were lit on the Admiralty Tower to warn residents of St. Petersburg of the threat of flooding. Within a few hours, the Neva and other rivers and canals overflowed their banks, even those with high embankments. The whole city, except for the Foundry and Christmas districts, was flooded by water as high as a man's height.

By morning, furious waves were raging on Palace Square, forming one huge lake with the Neva, overflowing Nevsky Prospekt like a wide river all the way to Anichkov Bridge. As soon as the water receded, Emperor Alexander I went to Galernaya Street, where he saw a terrible picture of destruction. Startled, he stopped and got out of his carriage; he stood for several minutes without speaking, tears slowly flowing down his cheeks.

After the devastating disaster, active measures were taken to help the victims: food and warm clothing were delivered to the streets of the city, temporary shelters were set up in hospitals and private homes. Emperor Alexander I donated a million rubles to be distributed free of charge to the poor, and many private citizens followed his example. To learn about the support from institutions and residents of the city by read The Case of Benefits for Employees of the St. Petersburg Education District Affected by the Flood of November 7, 1824, The Case of Benefits to Officials Affected by the November 7 Flood, 1824, The Report of the President of the Academy of Sciences on Dead People during the Flood on November 14-19, 1824, and other documents on the Presidential Library's portal.

St. Petersburg experienced several more significant water rises, but the 1824 flood remains a record in the city's history. The 1824 flood was an exceptional event, and the only one recorded in the local navigation history. For 12 hours, the north-westerly wind blew continuously and with the same strength, without any deviation. As soon as the wind changed slightly to the north, the water level began to decrease.

Presidential Library's portal presents the Plan of St. Petersburg after the Flood of 1824.

The protection of the capital against the effects of bad weather was a significant concern throughout the 19th century. In the Reading Room of the Presidential Library, visitors can learn about the "Draft for Diversion and Flood Protection Channels along the Banks of the Neva River between St. Petersburg and Lake Ladoga", which was prepared in 1826. For this purpose, the Bypass Canal was later built (1804–1834) during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I. During this time, the Main Physical Observatory, the oldest meteorological institution in Russia, was established. Its history can be found in a book written by one of its directors, Academician Mikhail Rykachev: A Historical Sketch of the Main Physical Observatory: 50 Years of Its Activity, 1849-1899. The author occasionally gave lectures, such as one in Kronstadt on "Floods in St Petersburg".. The author's work led to the creation of the Flood Prevention Service in 1897, based on his research into predicting floods in St. Petersburg. His study, The Case for Taking Measures to Warn Residents of St. Petersburg About Floods on October 12-November 23, 1898, was published in response to the need for better preparation for potential future floods.

Exactly one hundred years after the flood described by Alexander Pushkin, the elements once again raged in the city on the Neva. On September 23rd, 1924, a difficult day, it was easy to see on the streets of Leningrad that had suddenly turned into frantic streams, that the inhabitants of this city were not afraid of danger and did not give in to panic, as we read in the publication Leningrad in the Time of the Flood (1925).

The consequences of the flood were captured in photographs taken by Alexander Bulla. One image shows A Girl in the Park Next to a Broken Sculpture, another one – the scene of the ruined railway. These images are available in the collection of the Presidential Library.