Responses

It may not be possible to prevent flooding, but it is possible to prepare for and manage the consequences.

Many local authorities in conjunction with Local Resilience Forums have developed specific flood management plans. These provide an overview of the risks, roles and responsibilities, and potential actions. They facilitate a coordinated response to a flood, which will help protect life and wellbeing and to manage property and environmental damage.

A flood emergency plan will typically include:

• aim and objectives
• overview of flooding and specific risks
• information sources
• roles and responsibilities
• response and implementation, covering locations at risk, triggers, timescales, resources and equipment and places for safe evacuation
• recovery
• communication process
• contact lists of organisations, contractors and others.

Some plans also focus on communication, liaison with other agencies and training through running simulations.

It is also good practice to engage with local communities with regards to flood insurance. Ensuring that local communities have adequate flood insurance is imperative to ensure that property and possessions are covered and that the recovery process is as painless as possible.

Decisions on what action to take in response to flooding are – out of necessity – made at the lowest appropriate level.

This is because lead times are generally short, and where flooding happens and the impact it has, depends very much on local circumstances and conditions.

The main response to flooding on the ground will be for category 1 responders to act together. The responses of the different organisations should be set out in an emergency plan. These will primarily relate to the risk, triggers and the roles and responsibilities identified.

At a point, which they will decide, the police commands will hand over responsibility to the local authority, which is responsible for aftermath and recovery.

The recovery and clean-up period often involves more effort than the time during the flooding itself. Certainly, recovery times are likely to be much longer than the flood duration. There will be a number of challenges for the local authority to deal with, including:

• inspection of and cleaning road surfaces to ensure they are safe before they are reopened
• advising residents on reoccupying their properties
• offering advice about drying equipment and drying-out
• dealing with accommodation problems
• supporting individual and general community recovery.

It may be useful to develop a central resource of information to provide assistance on useful contacts, reputable contractors, and more.

LRFs (comprising relevant Category 1 responders) to a flooding emergency, should take the opportunity to review procedures following an event. This review process, carried out in conjunction with other stakeholders, should be used to:

• review processes and procedures
• inform decision making
• inform future preparation

Working with the community may help manage the impact, disruption and trauma of flooding.