Environmental emergencies

Exercise: WATERMARK

In March 2011, government departments, agencies, emergency responders and communities were involved in one of the biggest emergency exercises to take place in England and Wales. It tested the country's response to groundwater, surface water, reservoir, river and coastal flooding.

The likelihood of flooding is very real, especially for people and families who live in areas of high risk. Following the floods in 2007, Sir Michael Pitt was asked by the government to conduct an independent review into the emergency. His report made 92 recommendations. One of which was to hold a national exercise to test the arrangements put in place by emergency responders to respond to severe flooding.

Led by Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government and delivered by the Environment Agency, the exercise took place from 4 -11 March 2011. Covering England and Wales, a range of people and organisations were involved, from government ministers right through to local communities. Exercise Watermark aimed to make sure everyone is able to work together quickly and effectively in case of a real flooding emergency.

Herefordshire Public Services played its part in the regional response by attending the Multi- Agency Silver and the Strategic Coordination Group held at Hindlip, Worcestershire.

Flood Barrier Erection

On Thursday, March 10 the Environment Agency demonstrated the installation of the Hereford City demountable flood barriers.

People in Hereford got the chance to see a demonstration of flood barriers being erected as part of the national emergency flooding exercise - Exercise Watermark.

On Thursday 10 March, from midday Environment Agency officers will be assembling a small section of the demountable flood barriers in the park adjacent to Wye Street.

This was an opportunity to inform agencies such as the fire service, police and council, as well as local residents, about the towns' flood defences. Environment Agency officers were on hand to talk about flood risk and what people can do to prepare for flooding.

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (H&WFRS) also took along their Community Fire Safety Trailer to the event, and offered flood safety advice and further information to the public on the water rescue work they undertake.

Anthony Perry, Flood Risk Manager for the Environment Agency said:

"Flood barriers in places like Hereford are vital to helping protect communities from flooding. But it is also important that people know how to prepare and help themselves if the worst happens. Exercise Watermark gives us all an opportunity to look at how we prepare for and respond to flooding."

Station Commander Bob Sproat from H&WFRS:

"This flood barrier demonstration was an ideal way to highlight the positive measures that are being to taken to address the risk of flooding and to offer reassurance to the local community. It also shows how partner agencies work together at a local level to address the issue, and we are keen to illustrate our role in this, especially as these days we are very much a Fire and Rescue Service, with responding to water related incidents having become a key part of our work."

He explained that Community Safety Volunteers from H&WFRS will be on hand throughout the demonstration to offer leaflets and flood safety advice, while further information is also available online at http://www.hwfire.org.uk/ under the Preparing for Emergencies heading.

"They provide reassurance to homes, families and businesses near the city's Old Wye Bridge, and improved flood resilience for the City", says Erica Hermon (Emergency Planning Manager) – "this demonstration will be an added assurance to those who live and work in the vicinity that when the rains fall, these barriers can be installed swiftly and effectively." 

Flooding - Exercise: UNITE

On 4th November 2010 a multi-agency flood exercise, Exercise UNITE, took place at Barton Road, Hereford. The tabletop exercise was designed as a tactical exercise (Silver) to test responder and multi-agency activation and command and control arrangements with main theme of severe weather (flooding) in Herefordshire with the following objectives:

• To test the new Flood Advisory Service (FAS)
• To test triggers and activation of, and validate:

1. Herefordshire Multi-Agency Flood Plan (MAFP)
2. The Multi-Agency Silver (Tactical) Activation / Response Plan
3. The Herefordshire Public Services Major Incident Plan
4. The Rest Centre Activation Plan

• To practice how we manage information / intelligence
• Interoperability test of radios

From the point of view of the Exercise Facilitator, the exercise met all of its objectives and overall theme. Participants from each of the responding agencies contributed well to the success of the exercise and this filtered through to the enthusiasm at the Silver Group to meet the challenges being faced.

Exercise UNITE Outcomes

• Adult Social Care to seek assurance from care homes of business continuity arrangements
• The Resilience Team will develop a tactical flood response handbook in collaboration with partner agencies to enable tactical officers to perform in their role a during a flooding event.
• A review of local evacuation management
• A review and exercise of HPS recovery plan
• The Resilience Team, in collaboration with the GIS Team and partner agencies are to develop a flood advisory tool to further enhance flood warning and informing procedures.

The exercise has prompted a series of training programs to be developed and delivered in the coming months.

Snow Disruption Winter 2010

The period of heavy snowfall during December 2010 resulted in significant challenges for local services. The Resilience Team regularly liaised with Hereford Hospitals Trust, NHS Herefordshire and the volunteer 4x4 Emergency Response Group to ensure that all critical services were appropriately staffed as required.

The coordinated response was managed with great success, ensuring key staff who resided in hard to reach rural areas were collected and transported to places of work. The response was further enhanced with support from the Environment Agency, St John Ambulance and individual employees from NHS Herefordshire who all kindly came forward to offer their services as 4x4 drivers. If anyone who drives a 4x4 is interested in joining the Emergency Response Group then please visit their website at http://www.herefordshire4x4response.org.uk/.

For information on Environmental Emergency Planning please contact Alex Bartoszewicz on 01432 383511 or via email on abartoszewicz@herefordshire.gov.uk