Last November, the wind storm Becky pounded the Santander Bay study site. With near shore waves peaking up to 8 meters and a storm surge of over half a meter, Becky wreaked havoc throughout the Cantabrian Coast. An approximate twenty tons of sand was deposited in the El Sardinero area during the storm flooding. According to Mayor Iñigo de la Serna, estimated costs of material damage and the subsequent clean-up well exceeded 400.000 euros in Santander alone. Across Galicia, costs are likely to have exceeded 4 million euros which is similar to the price-tag of the storm that plagued Northern Spain in 2008. Fortunately, the contingency plan in place for these situations was set into action and human casualties were limited to only three injured. Preliminary estimations of the recurrence interval suggest such storms to have a return period of at least 20 years.

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