WIREDGOV

10,000 people will take part in Exercise Watermark this week, Britain’s biggest ever civil emergency exercise which will test the country’s response to catastrophic floods.

Exercise Watermark will involve the Environment Agency as well as ten government departments, 34 local resilience forums, emergency responders, water and energy companies, hospitals and schools.

Environment Agency Chairman, Lord Chris Smith, said:

“Exercise Watermark will test the plans that Government, the Environment Agency, local authorities and communities have put in place since the devastating floods of 2007. It will help protect lives and homes against future floods.

“One in six properties in England and Wales is at risk from flooding. I urge everyone in that position to sign up to receive free Environment Agency flood warnings.”

Some of the planned local exercises include the evacuation of coastal communities in Lincolnshire, live floodwater rescues by the RAF from rooftops and submerged vehicles, and a variety of flood awareness raising activities. The Government’s crisis response committee, COBR, will also meet as part of the exercise.

Grants announced

Defra has also announced grants worth £820,000 to emergency services, charities and other groups to pay for flood rescue equipment and training. The grants are part of a £2million fund to improve flood response in England and Wales. All the equipment bought with the funding will be added to the National Asset Register of flood rescue resources that can be called upon in the event of a major flood.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said:
“More extreme weather and rising sea levels mean we have to be prepared to deal with the impact of a major flood. Exercise Watermark will be Britain’s biggest ever emergency exercise and provide a unique opportunity for us to test our responses.

“In the event of a large-scale flood, it is important that we can call upon manpower and equipment from a wide range of emergency services and voluntary groups. The grants allocated today will help to pay for vital flood rescue training and assets such as rescue boats that will be readily available wherever they are needed.”

Exercise Watermark is one of the recommendations made by Sir Michael Pitt in his review of the summer 2007 floods. It will run over four days and test the response to different scenarios:

Evacuating schools and installing flood defence barriers

Community exercises include evacuating schools and installing flood defence barriers designed to protect properties. Businesses across England and Wales will also be using Exercise Watermark as an opportunity to test their business continuity arrangements. In the summer 2007 floods, almost 7,000 businesses were flooded and more recently in September 2009, hundreds of businesses were severely affected by flooding in Cumbria.

The provision of vital services, such as water, electricity and gas are often affected during times of major flooding. Five water companies and nearly all electricity providers will be using Exercise Watermark to consider the resilience of their sites and review their existing flood plan to ensure that critical infrastructure is prepared for future flooding.

Exercise Watermark is a cross-government emergency flooding exercise led by Defra, along with the Welsh Assembly Government, and delivered by the Environment Agency with the support of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat.

• Exercise Watermark