Agenda item

(1)       Mr Mark Salisbury (Emergency Planning Team Manager) began his presentation by setting the background. Kent’s coastline was some 525 km in length. Tidal and coastal flooding was a key risk for the Kent region.  January 2013 had seen the 60^th anniversary of the East Kent Flood which had killed over 300 people in the UK whilst affecting a great number of homes, leading to large scale evacuations.  Some 46,000 farm animals had also died as a consequence of this event and the overall estimated cost had been between £40k and 50k.  This would equate to £5 billion if the same event were to be repeated today.

(2)       Mr Salisbury went on to say that coastal flooding continued to be a “tier one risk” which required a co-ordinated and resilient response across a large number of Local Resilience Forums (LRF) with the ability to co-ordinate national resources.   

(3)       Mr Salisbury stressed the need for timely and accurate weather predictions as well as other intelligence which would inform the decision-making process and the co-ordination of national resources where they were most needed.  A crucial aspect of local preparation work was the ability to warn the general public, complementing the prior work of increasing its understanding of what should be done in the event of an emergency. To this end, a multi-partnership Information Group was in operation, chaired by Mr Salisbury himself.   

(4)       Mr Salisbury moved on to describe the national threat.  An East Coast Flood (ECF) event had a 0.5% chance of occurring between September and April in any given year.  It had been estimated that such an event could lead nationally to up to 400 fatalities and 11,000 injured with some 297,000 residents affected (of whom about 20% would be likely to require assistance with evacuation).  It was anticipated that 357,000 buildings would be affected, including 224,000 residential properties.  The overall cost of damage to property would be over £23 billion.  People would be stranded over a large area with 11,000 people in need of rescue or assistance over a 36 hour period.  A further 107,000 people in caravan and camping sites would be affected during the high season, together with nearly 5.000 km of roads and 423 bridges and fords.

(5)       Mr Salisbury then said that there would be five broad phases in the management of a major ECF event.  These would be Early Warning (Kent would receive 5 days warning); an Assessment phase; a preparedness phase; the Impact itself; and the Recovery phase.

(6)       Mr Salisbury turned to the question of Kent’s preparedness for an ECF event.  He said that 200 people had attended the East Coast Flooding Workshop in April 2013.  These had included Emergency Planning Officers from KCC and representatives from the District authorities.  

(7)       The Environment Agency had developed flood data and mapping to support the planning for evacuation and critical infrastructure in an ECF event which would affect some 12,500 properties in areas such as Dartford; the Thames Estuary; the Isle of Sheppey, Faversham, Graveney Marshes, Seasalter and Swalecliffe; the Sandwich, Deal, Romney Marsh area; and (indirectly) Dover Port.  This did not include mobile homes of which there were 10,000 in Shepway District alone.

(8)       Mr Salisbury outlined the next steps.  The Kent Resilience Forum would be involved in a joint exercise with the Essex Resilience Forum in January 2014 to test ECF preparedness.  Meanwhile the KRF Public Warning and Informing Group had produced a public booklet entitled “Are You Ready.”  This was due to be launched in January 2014. It would be sent to every household with e.versions being placed on the KCC and all District Council websites.

(9)       Dr Eddy noted that the next steps were due to take place in January 2014. He asked how prepared the county would be if an ECF event were to happen before then.  Mr Salisbury replied that an East Coast Flood surge inundation would happen between the months of April and September.  Kent had only recently been identified as an area at risk.  The steps described demonstrated that the risk of an ECF event was now being taken very seriously at a national level.

(10)     The Committee asked for feedback at its next meeting from the joint exercise with the Essex Resilience Forum, and from the bespoke Dft/Defra ECF workshop.  

(11)     RESOLVED that:-

            (a)       the potential level of the threat that an East Coast tidal surge could pose to the communities, infrastructure,  environment and economy of Kent be noted; and

            (b)       the KCC and wider-partnership approach be endorsed as outlined in the report.