Norfolk faulted over tidal surge response

28 May 2008
 
Several shortcomings have been identified in the emergency response to last November’s tidal surge, when Norfolk’s coastal defences were within inches of being breached.

The east coast high tide and storm surge of 8 and 9 November had provided an opportunity to ‘build on and reinforce emergency preparedness in the county’, according to a report by Norfolk County Council’s head of emergency planning, John Ellis.

And, although the ‘overall event response was very successful’, there were problems regarding activation, co-ordination, transport resources and information sharing.

Ellis wrote: ‘On receiving the initial information of potential risk from the Environment Agency, it was felt that the pre-warning and subsequent activation of some of the Norfolk Emergency Response capabilities was not as quick as it could have been.’

This delay impacted on the availability of certain organisations’ resources, such as rest centre teams. A greater pre-warning would have avoided the need to accept assistance from Cambridgeshire County and Peterborough City councils.
At rest centres, there was a disparity between need and supply, while the need of timely supply of resources at desired locations was not always met. Some centres were insufficiently resourced, while others had excess. The report also found problems relating to the activation and utilisation of transport resources. Too much transport was activated too early in the response phase, meaning Norfolk County Services ran out of resources by 2.30am on the Friday morning, and there remained a lack of available drivers on the second day.

The report recommended strengthening the coordination and resilience of transport support and arrangements. There was also a need to review information-sharing procedures – several county council departments were not informed of the high tide during the event, which impacted on their pre-planning and knowledge of the developing situation. Voluntary agency feedback was that they felt ‘somewhat isolated from the developing situation, with limited, if any, information provided after initial request for support’.

The report identified a requirement for greater training and awareness of NCC emergency plans and procedures in place, and the need for more emergency management training. Staffing levels were very thin throughout the event.

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