21 November 2008What is a major emergency?
A major emergency is commonly defined as any event (happening with or without warning) causing or threatening death or injury, damage to property or the environment or disruption to the community, which because of the scale of its effects cannot be dealt with as part of our day-to-day activities.
The Sevenoaks District Emergency Plan
The Council has a generic emergency plan (The District Major Emergency Framework Document) that is flexible enough to deal with any major emergency.
The plan is developed in conjunction with the emergency services, the County Council, the Environment Agency and town and parish councils. Generally the plan relies on Council staff doing their normal jobs, albeit in unusual circumstances. They may have to deal with matters on a much larger scale than normal or to undertake their duties at unusual locations and at unusual times.
The emergency plan is available here:MEFD 08-09 (
PDF File 1065KB file details). The Council has also produced a Glossary 08-09 ( PDF File 119KB file details) of terms and acronyms used in emergency planning.
Emergency planning is based on a risk assessment of particular hazards. This risk assessment is carried out by the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) and the result of this assessment is published on the Kent County Council website (Kent Community Risk Register).
Training and exercising
To support this response, the Council arranges for training for the key personnel and undertakes exercises to test the plans. Some of these exercises are carried out in conjunction with our partners in the bodies noted above.
Communications
During a major emergency, the telephone networks may become congested with phone calls. Mobile phone networks may similarly be affected by call overload. To allow an additional means of communication, the District Council work with RAYNET (the Radio Amateur's Emergency Network) and with other licensed amateur radio operators. Their main role is to send and receive information from the emergency responders. If you are a licensed radio amateur and would like to be included in our directory, please contact the Emergency Planning Officer at the District Council. Alternatively, you may wish to consider joining RAYNET.
Flooding and flood warnings
Sevenoaks District has three 'main river' systems, the River Medway, the River Eden and the River Darent. For flooding advice, please follow one of the following links.
Severe weather warnings
The Met Office issues severe weather warnings when there is a 'strong likelihood of severe weather that may cause considerable inconvenience to a large number of people or present a danger to life'. These warnings are issued for gales and storms, heavy snow, heavy rain, dense fog, freezing rain and widespread icy roads. If you would like to see the current warnings in force see the Met Office National Severe Weather Warning Service.
Go in stay in tune in
You should follow the instruction of the authorities if you are advised to evacuate your home. If your house is on fire, the advice is to get out, stay out and call the Fire and Rescue Service. For fire safety advice see Kent Fire and Rescue Service.
In most emergencies, the best advice is to 'go in, stay in and tune in'. A battery or wind-up powered radio is ideal in case the mains electricity fails. Tune in to your local radio station. For information on this initiative see National Steering Committee on Warning and Informing the Public.
Pets and Emergencies
The Blue Cross have produced a leaflet about looking after your pets during floods. The guidance can be applied to other major emergencies. It can be downloaded from here: Pets and Floods ( PDF 2680K file details)
Further information
If you have any further queries, please contact the District Council's Emergency Planning Officer:
Jeff Seear
Emergency Planning Officer
Sevenoaks District Council
Argyle Road
Sevenoaks
Kent
TN13 1HG
Tel: 01732 227303
Fax: 08701 914826
E-mail: emergency.planning@sevenoaks.gov.uk
