Boscastle, a small village in north Cornwall, experienced catastrophic flooding on August 17, 2004 when over 3 million tons of water accumulated in the narrow valleys surrounding the village within just 5 hours. The heavy rainfall was caused by an extreme weather event that saturated the soils which limited the absorption of additional water, causing widespread surface runoff and flooding as the three converging rivers overflowed their banks. The narrow, steep valleys exacerbated the flooding in Boscastle by restricting water flow, while human development had removed vegetation and built on the flood plain, worsening the impacts.