Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment Agency supported by the National Flood Forum have announced a large-scale emergency flood exercise across England and Wales in March 2011.
‘Exercise Watermark’ will test national and regional responses to severe flooding from surface water, rivers and streams, reservoirs, sea and tidal. Testing will take place on a national level for government departments and will be supported by a number of regional and community level exercises involving local authorities, emergency responders, businesses, schools, community groups and individuals.
A pilot is expected to take place in November 2010 – January 2011. Exercise Watermark will then go live across England and Wales from the 4th to the 11th March 2011 starting with community events and flood fairs then leading on to the specific scenario tests. The exercise will be reviewed from March and an Action plan from lessons learned expected to be published in June 2011. A final report will be published in December 2011.
More than 3,500 emergency responders and numerous community groups have already signed up and businesses are invited to register to test their business continuity arrangements as part of the exercise.
Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has said that "Exercise Watermark will be a real test of our ability to deal with a range of flooding issues such as burst riverbanks, surface water flooding and reservoir failure. This is just one example of the important work that Defra and its agencies are doing to help local communities improve their resilience in a ‘big society’ approach to flooding.”
Next Steps
It is crucial that local authorities, businesses and communities are prepared for the eventuality and severity of flooding. Exercise Watermark is an important opportunity for all to register and be involved in the numerous events and test scenarios
Full details at http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/tag/exercise-watermark/
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