The Boscastle flood on August 16 last year was one of the most extreme ever experienced in Britain concludes a special study commissioned by the Environment Agency. At its peak the flow rate in the River Valency was 140 tonnes per second as flood water rampaged through the village, taking cars, trees, and other debris with it. An estimated two million tonnes – 440 million gallons – flowed through Boscastle on the fateful day, during which eight inches of rain fell. A consortium of flood specialists says the flood was of such magnitude there is a one in 400 chance of it, or worse, recurring in any one year.