Agenda item

The Cabinet received a report on the Emergency Flood Response - Storm Event Arrangements.  The report detailed how the Council currently deals with and responds to storm events that cause widespread flooding and included the actions that could be expected of the Council.

In addition, the report provided information on the operational emergency response phasing that included the pre-storm planning phase, the immediate response phase and the immediate recovery phase after the storm, together with the physical clean-up operation.  References were also made to the wider aspects of the post event recovery response phase.

The report sought that Cabinet consider and endorse the proposed principles for responding to flood events during an emergency event as set out in the report.

Cabinet Members expressed that that whilst the Council does as much as it can within its defined responsibility, this report clearly demonstrates to the public that there are a number of organisations, agencies and partner authorities who also have a responsibility in regard to dealing with and managing flood risk and storm events.

UNANIMOUSLY RESOLVED to endorse the principles as set out in the report for responding to flood events during the emergency response phase as follows:

a.   the primary Council response in a storm event must be prioritised with respect to risk to life, risk of injury and risk to strategic assets, taking into account its obligations with respect to Council owned assets and wider statutory responsibilities pertaining to the circumstances.

b.   the Council will work with Dyfed-Powys Local Resilience Forum (LRF) partners and across the range of Council services to determine its response through setting out its objectives, overall strategy and priorities as appropriate.

c.   Incidents of internal flooding will take priority over flooding of gardens and outbuildings, particularly where Council assets are believed to be contributary factors. It should be noted that watercourses are not generally owned by the Authority nor by Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Such watercourses are normally the responsibility of the riparian landowners.

d.   Homeowners and businesses alike who have experienced flooding in the past will be encouraged to make preparations in advance of storm events in order to mitigate the extent of flood damage to their own property.

e.   Whilst the Council is content to provide businesses with a warning of impending storms based on the forecasts it receives when it can, the Council cannot be relied upon in this regard as the primary source of information as the Council cannot provide a formal flood warning service. Businesses and householders are encouraged to sign up to NRW warning systems where available.

f.     Households and Businesses - the degree of physical help provided immediately after a flood event, if appropriate, will be determined based on the scale, nature and severity of such an event. This will be determined by the Council’s Gold group or the Corporate Management Team as appropriate for the most severe events.

g.   financial help – the extent of financial help that may be appropriate will be determined by the Gold group or Corporate Management Team after taking into account the prevailing circumstances. Support of this nature is very much the exception and will only be considered in extreme events. In certain circumstances after severe flooding, Welsh Government may provide grant aid which may be administered through the Council. However, this will not be the case for every storm.