Kent County Council Flood Response Plan IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY GO TO SECTION 1 Page 7 Date December 2019 Issue 7.0 Review date December 2021 Markings OFFICIAL All enquiries or amendments relating to this document should be sent to: KCC Resilience and Emergency Planning Service Invicta House County Hall Maidstone Kent ME14 1XX Telephone: 01622 675570 Email: [email protected] Printed on recycled paper KCC Resilience and Emergency Planning Service Is accredited under ISO14001 (environmental management) Issue & Review Register Issue number Summary of changes & Approved by date Issue 1 David Cloake New Issue February Head of Emergency Planning 2010 Issue 1.1 Steven Terry Minor updates February Emergency Planning Manager 2013 Entire document updated, incorporating Issue 2 Tony Harwood lessons from winter 2013/14 severe June 2014 Senior Resilience Officer weather events, and subsequent debriefs Issue 3 Tony Harwood Minor updates December 2014 Senior Resilience Officer Tony Harwood Issue 4 Minor updates Resilience and Emergencies June 2015 Manager Tony Harwood Issue 5 Plan format change and updates Resilience and Emergencies June 2016 Manager Update and synchronisation with latest Issue 6 July Tony Harwood version Pan Kent Flood Plan 2017 Principal Resilience Officer Issue 7 Tony Harwood Major updates December Resilience and Emergency Planning 2019 Manager NOTE: The latest version of this plan can always be found at on Resilience Direct and Kent.gov. Next review scheduled: December 2021 Compiled by: Date: December 2019 Name Louise Butfoy Role Project Officer Organisation Kent County Council Approved by: Date: December 2019 Name Tony Harwood Role Resilience and Emergency Planning Manager Organisation Kent County Council Key Decision: KCC Cabinet Member for Community and Regulatory Services agreed updates 12/12/2019. Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 2 of 77 Distribution List (electronic): Title Role/Organisation District Council Emergency Planning Lead Officers Borough and District Councils Duty Directors and Support KCC Environment Agency Incident Room (Kent Office) Environment Agency Flood Management Team Environment Agency KCC Cabinet Members KCC KCC Contact Point / Agilisys KCC KCC Cross Directorate Resilience Group KCC KCC Flood Risk Management Committee Members KCC KCC Flood Risk Manager KCC KCC Highway Management Unit KCC KCC Highways and Transportation Duty Officers KCC Kent Fire and Rescue Service Flood Rescue Tactical Kent Fire and Rescue Advisors Service Kent Resilience Team Multi-agency Parish Councils Parish Councils Tactical Managers and Support KCC Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 3 of 77 Contents 1. Response Summary 7 1.1 Flood Alert Response 7 1.2 Flood Warning Response 7 1.3 Severe Flood Warning Response 7 Figure 1.4 – Plan Activation Summary 8 2. Introduction 9 3. Scope 9 4. Audience 10 5. Related and Interdependent Plans 11 Figure 5.1 – Related and Interdependent Plans 11 6. The Risk of Flooding 12 6.1 Risk Assessment 12 - 6.1.1 Community Risk Register 12 6.2 Flood Risk 12 6.3 Climate Change Impacts & Uncertainty 13 6.4 Flooding Sources 13 - 6.4.1 Coastal Flood Risk 13 - 6.4.1.1 Coastal Flood Risk General Information 13 - 6.4.1.2 Coastal Flood Risk in Kent 14 - 6.4.2 Fluvial Flood Risk 14 - 6.4.2.1 Fluvial Flood Risk General Information 14 - 6.4.2.2 Fluvial Flood Risk in Kent 14 - 6.4.3 Surface Water/Overland Flow and Sewer Flood Risk 16 - 6.4.4 Groundwater Flood Risk 16 Figure 6.5 - Map of Kent showing coastal and fluvial (river) flood zones 2 and 3 18 Figure 6.6 - Map of Kent showing surface water flood risk (source: Environment Agency) 19 Figure 6.7 - Map of Kent showing ground water flood risk (source: Environment Agency) 20 Figure 6.8 - Map of Kent showing reservoir inundation risk 21 Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 4 of 77 7. Plan Activation 22 Figure 7.1 – Plan Activation Flow Diagram 22 Figure 7.2 - Common Triggers and Thresholds 23 7.3 Flood Alerts and Warnings 25 - 7.3.1 Environment Agency Flood Alerts and Warnings 25 - 7.3.2 Flood Warnings Received by Kent County Council 27 - 7.3.3 Flood Warning Lead Time 27 - 7.3.4 Flood Warning Dissemination Methods 27 8. Communication 29 8.1 Kent County Council Alerting Responsibilities 29 8.2 Kent County Council Elected Member Alerting and Engagement 29 - 8.2.1 Executive Members 29 - 8.2.2 All Elected Members 29 8.3 Door Knocking High Risk Properties 30 8.4 Communicating with the Public 30 Figure 8.5 - The Pan Kent Strategic Emergency Framework Document: Major Incident Alerting 31 Principles 9. Actions, Roles and Responsibilities 32 Figure 9.1 - KCC Flood Specific Roles and Responsibilities 32 Figure 9.2 - Partner Agency Flood Specific Roles and Responsibilities 35 9.3 Operational Response Activities 39 - 9.3.1 Response – Supplementary Information 39 - 9.3.1.1 Voluntary Sector 39 - 9.3.1.2 Mutual Aid 39 - 9.3.1.3 Military Assistance 39 - 9.3.1.4 Public Health 39 - 9.3.1.5 Kent Fire and Rescue Services Water Safety Aid Memoir 41 - 9.3.1.6 Welfare of Livestock and Other Animals 44 - 9.3.1.7 Water Rescue 44 - 9.3.1.8 Guidance for Working Near to Flood Water 44 10. Vulnerable People & Communities 46 10.1. Identification 46 Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 5 of 77 10.2. Background, Analysis and Horizon Scanning 47 Figure 10.3 - Kent and Medway Flood Vulnerability Map 49 Figure 10.4 - Kent and Medway Surface Water Flood Disadvantage Map 50 Figure 10.5 - Kent and Medway Fluvial and Coastal Flood Disadvantage Map 51 11. Key Infrastructure 52 12. Evacuation and Shelter 52 Figure 12.1 - Evacuation and Shelter Methodology 53 13. Rescue 54 14. Recovery 54 15. Training and Exercising 54 15.1 Training 55 15.2 Exercising 55 Figure 15.3 - Training and Exercising Programme 55 Appendix A - Resources [Assets] 58 Appendix B - Business Continuity Management 62 Appendix C - Health and Safety 63 Appendix D - Risk Assessments 64 Appendix E - Kent County Council Flooding Event Model Debrief Agenda 72 Appendix F - Extended Floodline Service 73 Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 6 of 77 1. Response Summary 1.1 Flood Alert Response • On receiving a Flood Alert, the Duty Emergency Planning Officer (DEPO) will consult with Environment Agency, Met Office and/or the KCC Highways Senior Duty Officer on the forecast and likely impacts. • A decision will be made as to whether a multi-agency Severe Weather Advisory Group (SWAG) is required. • If no SWAG is required, this decision will be communicated to multi-agency partners by the lead agency for the response, and the DEPO will maintain a watching. KCC Highways Senior Duty Officer will consider whether an Operational Impact Warning will be issued. • If a SWAG is called, it will be chaired by the Environment Agency in the event of fluvial or coastal flooding, or KCC Highways for surface water flooding, and will utilise the standing agenda and circulation list available on Resilience Direct*. The situation will be monitored and further action by individual agencies may be initiated through the SWAG. 1.2 Flood Warning Response • On receiving a Flood Alert, the DEPO will contact and brief the KCC Duty Director. • The SWAG will be chaired by the Environment Agency in the event of fluvial or coastal flooding, or KCC Highways for surface water flooding, and will utilise the standing agenda and circulation list available on Resilience Direct*. The situation will be monitored and further action by individual agencies may be initiated through the SWAG. The SWAG will also determine if there is a need to stand up formal multi-agency Command and Control procedures. • The DEPO, in consultation with the KCC Duty Director, will determine whether it is necessary to activate the KCC Flood Response Emergency Plan and any internal Command and Control procedures. • The corporate KCC response, in the event of the activation of the KCC Flood Response Emergency Plan, will be co-ordinated by the DEPO and/or the County Emergency Centre (CEC), with specialist services mobilised as required. 1.3 Severe Flood Warning Response • On receiving a Flood Alert, the DEPO will contact and brief the KCC Duty Director, who is required to attend the SWAG. • The SWAG will be chaired by the Environment Agency in the event of fluvial or coastal flooding, or KCC Highways for surface water flooding, and will utilise the standing agenda and circulation list available on Resilience Direct*. The situation will be monitored and further action by individual agencies may be initiated through the SWAG. The SWAG will also determine if there is a need to stand up formal multi-agency Command and Control procedures. • The DEPO in consultation with the KCC Duty Director will activate the KCC Flood Response Emergency Plan and any internal Command and Control procedures. • The corporate KCC response, in the event of the activation of the KCC Flood Response Emergency Plan, will be co-ordinated by the DEPO and/or the County Emergency Centre (CEC), with specialist services mobilised as required. *To access SWAG resources on Resilience Direct go to; Kent Resilience Forum, Kent Responses, Severe Weather Advisory Group Resources. Kent County Council Flood Response Plan Issue 7.0 Page 7 of 77 Figure 1.4 – Plan Activation Summary DEPO to consult Environment DEPO to contact Duty Director DEPO to contact Duty Director Agency, Met Office, and/or KCC Highways Duty Manager SWAG SWAG OR (optional attendance by Duty (request attendance by Duty Director) No SWAG SWAG Director) OR OR OR Activation Action by Consider of Flood SWAG Action by individual activation Response monitors individual agencies of Flood Plan situation agencies Response Plan DEPO SWAG to monitors monitor Initiation of situation situation Consider Internal KCC initiation of Command Internal KCC and Control Command and Control 2.