A9- Town Emergency Plan

Version: 2

 Date: 9^th July 2018

INTRODUCTION

This is the Emergency Plan for the town of Newmarket, prepared by Newmarket Town Council. It is intended to support at local level, the statutory Plans developed at both County and District level.

Newmarket Town Council commit to working closely with the West Suffolk councils and through them the Suffolk Joint Emergency Planning Unit (JEPU) to protect our communities and if necessary help them recover.

The Council recognises that should an emergency occur, resources of the response and statutory agencies may be stretched and that it is important to put our local resources to optimum use to support our residents, businesses and voluntary groups. This, our first Emergency Plan concentrates on Newmarket Town Council’s role and will be developed over time to maximise the available capacity from the wider community.

Emergency planning is an important role for all Suffolk’s public authorities, supported and coordinated by the Suffolk Resilience Forum (SRF), a multi-agency group that provides strategic

·     To promote cooperation between organisations in their preparation for response to a major emergency; ·     To promote joint training and exercising and integrate this as part of the preparations of the individual organisations; ·     To provide a forum for the consideration of emergency response issues where there are implications for more than one agency; ·       To support agreed courses of action where mutual benefit has been identified; ·       To provide an opportunity for the exchange of information; and ·      To risk assess hazards within and to Suffolk.

/tactical and operational guidance and support on the planning for the multi-agency response to a major incident. The SRF is the principal mechanism for multi-agency cooperation under the Civil Contingencies Act, 2004 and its boundaries are based on local policing boundaries. Its objectives are:

The SRF also has close working relationships with other bodies that deliver vital services, whether in the public (such as the army and government departments), private (gas, water and telecoms suppliers) or voluntary sectors. Among the many areas included in the SRF’s remit is planning in the event of a terrorist incident, flooding, major fire or pollution incident.

Category 1 responders (as defined in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004) commonly referred to as Cat 1, include all Suffolk county and district councils, the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services, hospitals, NHS primary care trusts and the Environment Agency. All may have a vital role to play in an emergency and have a seat at SRF meetings.

Cat 2 responders include utility companies, transport providers, such as the Highways England and Network rail and Government bodies, including the Health and Safety Executive.

Forest Heath District Council and St Edmundsbury Borough Council work together as West Suffolk to be ready to help the emergency services deal with major emergencies that affect communities. They also plan how they will help communities to recover from emergencies and get back to normal. They are part of JEPU which is a shared service between all eight local authorities in Suffolk. The aim is to ensure mutual support for each authority in case of emergency. They work with emergency services partners to plan for a wide range of emergencies and they test their plans during exercises to make sure they are as well prepared as possible.

The Town Council does not have such a duty but has resolved to support the principal councils by identifying resources which they can deploy if necessary during an incident, which may range from a minor, locally contained incident to a major emergency crossing town and even district/county boundaries.

The Town Council have delegated to the Town Council Manager in consultation with two of: Mayor, Deputy Mayor, or Chairman of Finance & Policy or Community Services all powers of the Council in the case of a civil emergency, so that necessary decisions can be taken swiftly. There is not a spend limit set for such incidents but is obviously contained within the Council’s budget and reserves

King Edward VII Memorial Hall, High Street, Newmarket, CB8 8JP.
The Severals Pavilion, Newmarket, CB8 7BP.

Mayor
Michael Jefferys
E-mail: councillorjefferys@newmarket.gov.uk
Telephone: 01638 663154
Mobile: 07963021151

Town Council Manager
Debbi Baines
E-mail: town.clerk@newmarket.gov.uk
Telephone: 01638 667227
Mobile:

Responsible Finance Officer
Cathy Whitaker
E-mail: cathy.whitaker@newmarket.gov.uk
Telephone: 01638 675915
Mobile: 07470 273788

Forest Heath Emergency Planner
Steve Henthorn
Office: 01284 758460
Mobile: 07920 466340

Responsibility for activating the Plan will be the Town Council Manager or other member of EMT

THE PLAN WILL BE ACTIVATED WHEN it is necessary to take action and that action cannot be taken without triggering the plan

AIM OF THIS PLAN To provide a framework plan that will assist in the local response to an emergency, when assistance from the Emergency Services and other responders is delayed or requires supplementing.

OBJECTIVES OF THIS PLAN

• To establish a local emergency management structure which can assist Category 1 responders as necessary
• To coordinate community response and resources- personnel, equipment and emergency accommodation.
• To help the community recover following an

WHAT IS AN EMERGENCY

The formal definition is “An incident arising, with or without warning, threatening or causing death or serious disruption to significant numbers of people, property or the environment, in excess of that which can be dealt with by the public services operating under normal conditions and requiring the special mobilisation and organisation of those services and the deployment of local authority staff and resources”. Under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 an emergency is defined as ‘An event or situation which threatens serious damage to

• Human welfare The environment           • Security of the United Kingdom.’

The definition of a Major Incident was amended by the Cabinet Office in July 2016. “An event or situation, with a range of serious consequences, which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency responder agencies.” The new wording has been simplified and is accompanied by notes which confirm that “emergency responder agencies” can mean any Category 1 or 2 responder and that the incident is one that is beyond the scope of business-as-usual operations.

From initial research it has been established that there are three recognised levels of emergency:

1. A major catastrophic event in the County or Region, requiring large capacity shelters and support. Such incidents would require very large premises to accommodate and manage large numbers of temporary “refugees”. In this type of incident the Town Council would be approached as part of a measured, coordinated scheme initiated by a higher tier authority and would play a minor supporting role.
2. A major emergency at County or District level, or beyond, where the management of the event would be undertaken at that level. Town venues could well be a receiving station for dispersed persons, and selected local people involved in support. If the incident was actually in Newmarket, the command centre may well be located
3. A local emergency within the Town which, though inevitably involving the higher levels of Government for support), needs a high level of local involvement by local people as it is they who are most likely to know who is likely to be at risk and/or in

This Plan concentrates mainly on the second and third categories.

INSURANCES

Community resilience group volunteers will be covered by Forest Heath District Council insurance under the following circumstances;

• They are a member of and acting on behalf of an authorised Community Resilience
• They have been authorised to act on behalf of the local authority and are under the direction of a local authority member of staff (This can be remotely).
• They only carry out the actions / activities that they have been authorised to do or agreed by the local

The use of motor vehicles is not covered by the local authority’s insurance and it is the responsibility of the individual to ensure that they have adequate and appropriate cover.

Newmarket Town Council’s public and professional liability insurance covers Council members and officers and volunteers working directly under their control against accidents or any damage they may cause in responding.

 

Risks	Impact on Community	Preparation/Actions
Major road traffic accident	· Blocked streets and gridlock · Emergency vehicles have access difficulties. ·  Vulnerable people cut off.	·  Help with traffic diversions ·  Visit vulnerable people. ·  Assist with clear up. .
Rail/train incident	· High casualty level · Blocked traffic routes · Rail services unavailable	·  Help with traffic diversions ·  Provide rest centres for uninjured people ·  Assist with clear up.
Flooding from brook/culvert	· Flooding of local streets/car parks · Flooding of/damage to properties · Contamination	·  Identify vulnerable properties & advise residents to improve home flood defences. ·  Town Council to carry stock of sandbags etc. ·  Assist in distribution of warning signs ·  Find out existing or planned flood defences. ·  Prepare rest centre for evacuees.
Terrorist threat at a racing venue or in Town	· High casualty level · Blocked traffic routes · Rail services unavailable · High community trauma · Very high media attention · Loss of key amenities	·  Provide rest centres for uninjured people ·  Assist with clear up. ·  Support community/counselling ·  Assistance with signage/diversions ·  Help with media ·  Long term recovery process
Major fire	·  Moderate casualty levels ·  Damaged property ·  Displaced people ·  Community trauma ·  Contamination of area	·  Provide rest centres for uninjured people ·  Assist with clear up. ·  Support community/counselling
Gas explosion	·  Moderate casualty levels ·  Damaged property ·  Displaced people ·  Community trauma Contamination of area	·  Provide rest centres for uninjured people ·  Assist with clear up. ·  Support community/counselling ·  Help with heating for vulnerable people.
Aeroplane crash	· Potentially high & widespread casualty level · Many displaced people · Blocked traffic routes · Rail services unavailable · High community trauma · Very high media attention · Loss of key amenities	·  Provide rest centres for displaced people ·  .Help with diversions/road closures ·  Support community/counselling ·  Assist with clear up ·  Help with media ·  Long term recovery process
Snow and ice conditions	· Blocked traffic routes · Slip hazard · Vulnerable people cut off	·  Help vulnerable people who are cut off ·  Local gritting
Electricity supply out	· People without power for lengthy period. · Impact on access to amenities after dark · Loss of amenities/services	·  Provide rest centres for displaced people ·  Help with food & warmth for vulnerable people
Water supply damaged or contaminated	· Flooded local streets. · Damage to properties. · People without water supply for lengthy period.	· Help with distribution of warning/diversion signs. · Distribution of bottled water or bowser supply

 

In the event of the plan being triggered, the following members of the Town Council have agreed to form part of the emergency team who will help to reduce the effects on the community in the event of an incident.

Town Council Manager Finance Manager Events Manager

• Additional members from within the community will be

These officers liaise with the Mayor and the councillors who form Finance and Policy Committee.

Names, contact details and availability of the Emergency Management Team (EMT) should be placed in the contact directory.

The role of the Emergency Team is to co-ordinate the activities of your Community during an emergency by assessing the situation, mobilising the appropriate local resources to support the community and maintaining links with the emergency services, the principal authorities and other responding organisations.

The contact numbers will be held by Suffolk’s Joint Emergency Planning Unit on a secure part of the Suffolk Resilience Forum Website, which the Emergency Services and Local Authorities have access to.

Emergency Community Coordinators

These are members of the community willing to assist during an emergency, doing tasks such as door knocking, snow clearance or shopping for vulnerable people, helping in a rest centre for example.

Their names and contact details will be kept securely by members of EMT

DATA PROTECTION 1998 Newmarket Town Council is registered with the Information Commissioner and operate in accordance with their Information and Data Protection Policy

INCIDENT ROOM

If the EMT is brought together in the case of an incident, their incident room will be one of the following location(s):

King Edward VII Memorial Hall, High Street, Newmarket. The Severals Pavilion, Newmarket.

An incident room is simply a location where the emergency team can meet and manage the community’s response to the emergency. The venue will have access to a phone and to kitchen facilities.

Contact details for accessing the venues during an emergency are held by EMT members.

Rest Centres may be established at:

King Edward VII Memorial Hall, High Street, Newmarket. The Severals Pavilion, Newmarket.

These are locations where people can go when there is an emergency; whether it is to keep them warm and dry or somewhere to discuss actions that need to be taken. Provision is available for preparing food and overnight accommodation is possible if needed.

Contact details for accessing the venues during an emergency are held by EMT members.

Emergency Box

An emergency box will be kept by the Council at the Memorial Hall, which will contain essential information and equipment for an emergency.

EMERGENCY INFORMATION POINTS

The Town Council will establish a number of locations to pass information to the community during an emergency which will include the Library and Town Council Information Boards.

The Town Council website www.newmarket.gov.uk. and social networking sites will be used to keep people informed of the latest situation.

The Events Manager will be responsible for making sure all the Emergency Information Points have the same information to avoid confusion.

THE EMERGENCY PLAN

The Emergency Plan will be regularly updated and developed so it is relevant when an emergency occurs. It will be reviewed at least annually and at other times when information changes.

A public Copy will be available on the Web site

Printed copies will be available in the Town Council office, to EMT members and to West Suffolk Emergency Planning Officer.

Councillors will have a copy via the Constitution.

Contact details will be available to EMT, other staff and councillors. For Data Protection reasons, only these people will hold versions which contain contact or personal details.

The role of the Town Council assisted by the community would vary depending on the scale and nature of the incident, but may include:

• Local town control of certain operations, or provision of a local emergency control centre at the request of the District
• Use of the council venues and other community facilities as rest
• Staff to help in the District Control Centre if a shift system became
• Help with Public Relations and keeping the community
• Counselling and leading the community in times of high trauma
• Use of Town Keeper, vehicles and equipment to supplement other
• Monitoring the local situation e.g. flooding and identifying people in particular need or at risk.
• Providing Sandbags and sand at times of
• Providing Grit and salt for inclement for use in snow and
• Take a lead in the recovery phase

On discovering or being advised of a civil a major civil emergency, the Town Council Manager or other member of EMT will initially contact all persons listed that are needed at any stage.

The Town Council Manager, or nominated member of staff or councillor will:

• Ensure all relevant persons are contacted by phone and/or email, advised of the situation and either put on standby or advised of the action
• Make contact with West Suffolk to offer help and await instructions. Advise them whether operating from own homes or somewhere
• Convene any necessary meetings of the EMT, Town Council/Committee and volunteers
• Consider welfare issues and take necessary action
• Deploy volunteers & Town Keeper/Caretaker in non-critical service areas as
• Undertake health and safety risk assessments on the actions to be taken so that risk is minimised.
• Advise statutory authorities (e.g. emergency services, HSE etc) and insurance company as
• Keep everyone
• Invoke process of determining loss or damage, and minimising
• Take an active role in any recovery

Elected Members have an important role in keeping local communities informed, supporting and counselling them and representing their views and concerns back to statutory authorities and helping to keep calm.

In Preparation, we will:

• Review our Emergency Plan regularly
• Liaise with the Suffolk Councils and other responder organisations
• Provide information on being prepared for emergency situations to our communities
• Store sharp sand, sandbags and polythene for use in times of
• Keep small amount of grit salt for use council venues & facilities, key amenities and homes of vulnerable people in times of snow and

In the event of any local emergency, the following principle MUST be first and foremost:

• if there is ANY threat to life, dial 999 and alert the emergency services (Police, Fire, or Ambulance)
• If there is no perceived threat to life, but you have information that may help the emergency services, please dial

The Plan may be activated in one of two ways:

The Council may decide to activate the Plan, for example in response to a request from a member of the public or because of an event such as severe weather or the Plan may be activated, in case of a major incident, as the result of a call West Suffolk Councils, the Joint Emergency Planning Unit or the Emergency Services (i.e. A Responding Agency)

Activation by Community Emergency Groups

In the event that the Council determines to activate the plan, without a request from the Emergency Services, or an Emergency Planning Officer, then the Council are acting under either the Town Council’s insurance policy or partners under that of their own organisation. Self- activation may be in response to events like snow and ice. Where this is the case, the Council will contact your West Suffolk at the earliest opportunity.

Activation by a Responding Agency

For more serious or wide spread emergencies, Town Council will normally be coordinated by West Suffolk Councils Council in response to a request for support from the emergency services.

If the Council receive a call for assistance from an Emergency Planning Officer or the Emergency Services, any activities that you will be asked to carry out will be designed to help support the local authority part of that response. This will usually take the form of welfare/shelter arrangements away from the direct scene of the emergency. It could also include things like local knowledge, or the location of known vulnerable persons. In this scenario, it is likely that the Council will be working alongside other voluntary organisations that also assist during the response. e.g. the Royal Voluntary Service (formerly the WRVS), British Red Cross etc.

Where the Council has been asked to activate this plan, then activities that it has been asked to undertake will be covered by the responding agency’s liability insurance.

Any information received must be given out and communicated to people in a coordinated and controlled manner via the local authority’s Emergency Call Handlers. It must not be given at the scene in a way that will impede the work of the emergency services. N.B. If an Emergency Control Centre (ECC) has been opened it is likely to be either at Forest Heath or St Edmundsbury Offices. You will be able to establish which one is in use when you contact the local authority. Routine contact during normal working hours will be via your Emergency Planning Officer at your local District or Borough Council.

Responsibility for activating the Plan will be the Town Council Manager or other member of EMT

THE PLAN WILL BE ACTIVATED WHEN it is necessary to take action and that action cannot be taken without triggering the plan

 

INITIAL ACTIONS OF EMT
IN AN EMERGENCY DIAL 999 Inform the LA that you have activated your plan Tune into BBC Radio Suffolk (95.5 FM, 95.9 FM, 103.9 FM, and 104.6 FM) or Heart Suffolk (96.4 & 97.1 FM) and listen for updates on the emergency. Follow any emergency services advice issued. Notify your emergency team and request that they meet at the nominated location if safe to do so and instigate the call cascade as necessary Gather as much information about the situation as possible and decide which local resources should be mobilised to support the community. Consider whether you can work effectively from your current location, or whether you need to move to an alternate location. Arrange for the Incident Room to be opened as appropriate. Keep a log of all communications, relevant times, actions taken, instructions given and information received. It will be important at the subsequent De-brief. Arrange for contact to be made with the vulnerable members of the community as appropriate and arrange for advice / assistance to be offered. Arrange for the community resources / organisations to be made available as necessary. Consider asking for additional members of the community (volunteers) to help with the response, using pre-identified community coordinators already. The type of support that would be welcomed changes from emergency to emergency but might include: Helping people move valuable and sentimental items upstairs Helping deploy any flood protection products they might have Providing some immediate shelter if people have had to leave their homes Looking after pets Providing lifts to family and friends Doing basic household tasks such as shopping Check your e-mail system regularly. Tell your community that your emergency team is functioning and if appropriate maintain a presence in the area(s) affected Establish contact with neighbouring Parish / Town Councils and ask for / offer support if appropriate Ensure that any members of your community engaged in the response are not putting themselves at risk. Make sure they are acting lawfully (e.g. not speeding), carefully and are not carrying out tasks and activities that they are not qualified to do.

 

ACTION CARD (FLOODING)

Areas of Newmarket can be subject to ground water flooding (including High Street) or to flooding from the brook/culvert. If you are in an area that receives flood warnings, dial Floodline on 0845 988 1188 or look on the Environment Agency website. Refer to the “Flood Specific Response Measures” table. Implement any agreed actions as appropriate. Mobile the pre-identified resources and make offer of support to those that may be vulnerable. Where ever possible, advise residents to: ·      Put any flood protection products they have into place ·      Move cars to higher ground ·      Make sure any valuable or sentimental items and important documents are safe ·      Empty furniture drawers and cupboards. Place the contents and any furniture you can upstairs. Fasten plastic bags round the legs of wooden furniture to help minimise absorption of           water ·      Be prepared to turn off mains gas and electricity ·      Be prepared to evacuate if necessary and in the unlikely event: ·      Grab ‘Go bag’ and check contents. ·      Turn off electricity, gas and water supplies and unplug appliances ·        Take their mobile phone and charger. ·      Take some spare clothes. ·      Take prescribed medication with them. ·      Take cash and credit cards. ·      Lock all doors and windows. ·      If they leave by car, take bottled water, a duvet or blankets and tune into the local radio for emergency advice and instructions. ·        Put plugs in sinks and weight them down to prevent backflow from the drains. Weigh down the loo seat too. ·        Bring caged outdoor pets inside, move all pets with food, water, bedding and litter trays upstairs ·        Always wash their hands/arms/legs after coming into contact with floodwater with hot water and soap. ·        Keep contaminated footwear and clothing away from children ·        Never allow children to play in floodwater, as well as the risk of disease manhole covers may have dislodged under the pressure of floodwater creating a drowning risk. Try and provide support to residents in carrying out these actions. Fill and deliver sandbags/polythene as appropriate.

We need to keep up our activities, bringing in additional resources as necessary, until either we are stood down by the Emergency Services or Suffolk Councils, or the Town Council decide that assistance is no longer necessary.

Debrief

“Debriefing” is a conversation that revolves around the sharing and examining of information after a specific event has taken place. A ‘Hot Debrief’ should take place by the key people involved in an incident immediately after the incident has passed & a “cold“ debrief should be held after the dust has settled and things are getting back to normal.  This should be open to anyone involved in the incident. It enables you to record what went well, what could have been better & what you can do to learn from this experience to improve things next time. It is not about who is at fault. This is where notes made during the emergency prove really useful.

EMT will hold de-briefs as soon as possible after the event and pass on information to West Suffolk Emergency Planning Officer, SRF or JEPU as required.

TYPICAL DEBRIEF AGENDA

1. Notification/Alerting
2. Warning – Responding Agency and Public
3. Command and Contror
4. Communications
5. Media Response
6. Recovery Issues
7. Recommendations

Although most activity by a community in an emergency occurs in support of the emergency services and other agencies that assist in the response, the community has a role to play in the recovery phase.

It is not possible to define precisely the extent and nature of post-incident community activity, since this will vary with the severity and nature of the emergency. It is likely, however, that community activity will be in one or more of the following categories:

• Looking after the welfare of the emergency services and agency workers e.g. feeding, sleeping, laundry, rest facilities
• Caring for and supporting the on-going needs of those local people affected by the emergency.
• Memorial services, memorials, gardens of
• Newsheets, information boards, staffing information

The above will be co-ordinated by West Suffolk Councils and, when required, by Suffolk County Council.

It is important that the community considers these activities in advance and decides/agrees the need for community involvement and whether a member or section of the community should be tasked with preparing and inserting guidance in this Plan.

Recovery Process

It may be necessary following a major civil emergency to work with the principal councils in aiding recovery. After a very serious incident, West Suffolk Councils may establish a Community Recovery Committee, which is a group drawn from the local community to reflect community concerns, and assist in informing the community. It will most likely assist in Impact Assessment of the affected community. Town Council elected representatives would be included in the membership. Its role would be non-executive.

An important role would be engaging with the Business Community and taking their concerns to the principal council’s main Recovery Coordinating Group.

Town councillors, as well as other community leaders have an important role to play in assisting the recovery process:

• A focus for community concerns
• Identifying problems and vulnerabilities of their community
• Knowledge of local personalities and resources
• Enhancing local community liaison
• Visiting people affected and giving reassurance
• Consultation on re-builds or modernisation
• Assisting with the media in getting messages to the community (following established policy guidelines)
• Assisting with VIP visits
• Liaising with elected representatives ( West Suffolk & Suffolk County councillors, MP, MEP)

Recovery may take months or even years and these roles may be a long term priority.

The Town Council will need not only to help with damage assessment but use local knowledge to draw up a Recovery Action Plan and to give each action a priority rating of:

Essential Important or Desirable.

This will need to be done with the myriad of partners who will be involved in the recovery process.

Town Council Manager to update contact information and amendments to the Plans in liaison with West Suffolk Councils and review the Emergency Plan following the Debrief.

In addition to councillors and staff members on the EMT, the Council will make available the following members of staff: 2 Administrators, Town Keeper, Caretaker.

In addition to the two venues to be used as Incident rooms, Rest Centre, the Council will make available:

The Cemetery Chapel and adjacent storage area/work shop.

The Severals green area for emergency vehicles, marquees or other storage

The Town Council will make available:

• Its van and various hand and power tools

To be developed

UK weather warnings (Met Office)

Cold weather alert – (Met Office)  (1 November to 31 March every year)
Flood alerts and warnings – (Environment  Agency)

Winter weather advice

Get ready for winter – (Met Office)

Highways – salting, gritting and snow clearing – (Suffolk County Council) Driving safely and being prepared in Snow – (BBC)

Suffolk school closures – (Suffolk County Council)

Flooding advice

Flooding advice – (Suffolk Resilience)

Flood information and advice – (Environment Agency)
Free flood warning service – (Environment Agency)

Ground water status and current flood risk – (Environment Agency) Suffolk Flood Risk Management Partnership

Power cut enquiries

Please contact UK Power Networks 24 hours a day:
Contact 0800 31 63 105 or 105 from a landline or a mobile.
Visit www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk for the latest update

Heatwaves and drought advice Drought – (Suffolk Resilience)

Environment Agency – Drought management for England
Health advice during a heatwave – (Suffolk Resilience)
Heat-health watch (Met Office) (1 June to 15 September every year)

For Contacting the Met Office: 0370 900 0100 Or www.metoffice.gov.uk

• Fire, Police, Ambulance and Coastguard (101 for non-emergency)
• Forest Heath District Council: 01638 719000

Out of Hours: 01284 763252

• St Edmundsbury Borough Council: 01284 763233
  Out of Hours: 01284 763252
• JEPU, your local Emergency Planning Officer’s:
  Sue Herne Office: 01449 724851                Mobile: 07776 481787

Steve Henthorn Office: 01284 758460       Mobile: 07920 466340

DEPO Alan Points Office: 01284 758461   Mobile: 07833 234553

• UK Power Network East of England: 0800 783 8838
• Area Highways Office: 03456 6066171
  Highways Agency – A14, A12 (Trunk Roads Only): 0300 123 5000
  Out of hours: Report online with their Highway Reporting Tool
• Duty Emergency Planning Officer (EPO): 01473 433444
• Trading Standards Office:01473 264859
  Out of hours: Report online
• The Emotional Wellbeing Hub for 0-25-year olds: 0345 600 2090
• Social Care Services: 0808 800 4005.
• Environment Agency: 03708 506 506
  Floodline: 0345 988 1188

Email: enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

• BBC Radio Suffolk :01473 250000
  On-air/call a show: 01473 212121
  Email: radiosuffolk@bbc.co.uk
  Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radiosuffolk
• Met Office contact:
  Phone: 0370 900 0100
  Website metoffice.gov.uk
• For housing enquiries, contact FHDC: 01638 719000

Help the Community Prepare

Many households will have received a Self-help Emergency Guidelines Fridge Magnet. (Z Card) You can help your community be prepared for an emergency by encouraging them to follow the advice contained in that document and to complete the telephone numbers that they may need in the event of an emergency. In particular you can:

• Encourage all members of your community to make sure they are adequately insured and that they review their insurance
• Make sure that people are signed up to the Environment Agency Flood Warning Direct Service if your community is in a flood risk area. Point them in the direction of the National Flood Forum for more information on flood defence products and to local surveyors and architects for advice on their
• Encourage people to prepare a Go Bag including,
• Key documents (such as passport, driving licence, your personal emergency contact list and insurance details).
• First aid kit including any
• Wet wipes and/or antibacterial hand
• Battery operated radio with spare batteries or wind up
• Notebook and pencil/pen.
• Mobile phone/charger.
• Glasses/contact lenses.
• Toiletries (including nappies/sanitary supplies).
• Any special items for babies, children, elderly and disabled
• Spare set of keys (home/car/office).
• Bottled water/energy
• Coins/cash (small denominations) and credit/debit
• Change of clothes and blankets and sensible footwear (if necessary, waterproofs).
• A torch and batteries or a wind up
• Encourage people to complete a household emergency which can be found on the Environment Agency website https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-flood- plan
• Encourage people to make a “Community Friend” – this is someone, or some people, that can be called during an emergency to provide practical support – such as helping move furniture, look after pets, share house keys to look after each other’s properties and maybe know which valuable and sentimental items should be moved upstairs, check on you if you are poorly and go to the shops and chemists on your
• Make sure people know how to respond. In an emergency, people should go in, stay in and tune in to their local radio station for further instructions and updates – unless there is a fire, or any other threat to staying in the property, or unless they have been advised otherwise by the Emergency
• Check that your community are ready for an emergency – ask them the following questions:
• Do you have a household emergency plan?
• Have you discussed your plan with family and friends?
• Do you know the emergency plan for your children’s school/nursery/college?
• Do you know the emergency plan for your place of work?
• Have you completed a personal emergency contact list?
• Have you prepared a check list for your ‘go bag’, or packed it ready to go?
• Do you have ICE contact(s) in your phone, wallet or purse?
• Do you have a contact person – someone unlikely to be affected by the same emergency – who can keep family and friends informed?
• Do you have a wind up or battery-operated portable FM/AM radio?
• Do you have alternative, agreed meeting points?
• Do you have working smoke alarms in your home?
• Do you have adequate contents and buildings insurance?
• Do you have copies of your most important documents stored somewhere other than at home?
• Do you have a written list of your valuables, plus photographs or DVD/video?
• Have you undertaken a basic first aid course?
• Have you checked if your property is in a flood risk area?
• Have you thought about arrangements for pets if you need to leave your home?
• Have you identified possible exit routes from every room in your home?

The Environment Agency has flooding specific information for communities in flood risk areas. Call 0845 988 1188 for more information.

Make sure that you are prepared

• Make sure that you have your own household plan and go bag up to date and ready
• Buy a wind up torch, wind up radio and wind up mobile phone charger
• Let people know you are willing to act as a co-ordinator during an emergency
• Look at Newmarket Town Emergency Plan

You might be able to make contact with another community co-ordinator from another Neighbourhood Watch group; someone who is unlikely to be affected by the same emergency and who might be able to act as a runner to pass you radio alerts if you lose power.

Next revision September 2021