The Environment Agency along with the emergency services, local authorities, and voluntary organisations, has been preparing its tactical and strategic response to an extreme weather event this winter.
This took the form of two Exercises, one tactical and one strategic, over the last month, carried out to train and prepare staff, from a range of organisations, to work together during a widespread flooding event across Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Claire Francis, Flood and Coastal Risk Manager from the Environment Agency, said:
“Sea levels are projected to rise by over one metre in the south of England over this century, and with more frequent powerful storms also predicted, the risk of coastal erosion and flooding is increasing.
"Although we continue to build and maintain flood defences we cannot protect everywhere against every eventuality and extreme.
"We therefore need to ensure that we’re prepared and that all our staff, and those in partner organisations, are ready to respond to extreme weather events and widespread flooding.”
Exercise Deluge was the operational exercise on Thorney Island, West Sussex on 12 September.
More than 160 people took part from multiple agencies.
The exercise involved building an 800-metre temporary flood barrier to test how quickly it could be assembled, as well as practising putting together high-volume pumps to remove flood water.
The strategic exercise was called Exercise Inundation. This took place on Wednesday 5 October in various locations in Hampshire and Isle of Wight.
During this exercise, approximately 400 participants from multiple agencies worked together to plan the emergency response if the highest tide on record and the highest amount of rain in 24 hours was to hit the South Coast.
Both exercises were a huge success and demonstrated the Environment Agency and partners’ abilities to respond to incidents 24 hours a day seven days a week.
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