Could you cope during an emergency? Communities across Bath & North East Somerset are being encouraged to find out more about being ready for emergencies such as flooding, severe weather, power cuts or issues on the roads.
The council’s Community Resilience initiative, which launches today (16 Oct), will highlight ways in which local groups, business and individual residents can strengthen their emergency preparedness so that in the event of an incident they can protect their friends and neighbours, support the emergency services response and help their community recover quickly.
Councillor Manda Rigby, Cabinet Member for Communications & Community, said: “We are lucky in Bath and North East Somerset because major emergencies are rare, but it’s important that our communities are as prepared as they possibly can be just in case. The Community Resilience initiative is highlighting the importance of thinking ahead and having a plan so that you know what to do if your street floods or there is a community-wide power outage.
“Once in place, a plan can strengthen the ability of a community or business to cope with a crisis, minimise the impact and speed up the recovery.”
Following a series of floods in 2012, residents in Chew Magna created their own plan to identify risks, outline how to support vulnerable residents, pull together local resources and expertise and establish coordinated communication methods in a crisis.
Alex Easton, Community Representative in Chew Magna, said: “We realised, as a community, that preparation was key to dealing with flood events, so we didn’t have to make decisions in the height of the storm, often in the dark. Together we devised a plan that clearly set out what neighbourhood wardens would do and in what order following alerts and warnings, particularly in a flash flood catchment.
“Key to communication is the flood phone – a single point of contact where WhatsApp groups can communicate and we can link with outside agencies. Each year, we hold a Resilience Day where wardens check that equipment is still working and update residents on telemetry, for example, on devices on the watercourses.
“Throughout the development, we have had incredible support from the council’s Emergency team, Drainage Department and the Environment Agency. We also have ongoing support from Avon Fire and Rescue, the Police, and Communities Prepared.”
B&NES residents are invited to a Community Resilience Day – a free event that includes talks and workshops to help individuals, communities, or businesses better prepare for emergencies.
It will be of interest to anyone who wants ideas about how they can prepare for and respond to emergencies to protect their family, neighbours or staff.
The event will be held on Thursday, 20 November at All Saints Centre, High St, Upper Weston, Bath BA1 4BX, 10 am to 3.30 pm.
