Below is an extract from the Environment Agencies – Flooding support resources for Dorset communities:
Reporting Flooding
Reporting of flooding is crucial for incident response and also for long term planning of flood risk reduction measures. If your community has been impacted by flooding but it has not been reported, then the relevant authorities may not be aware of what has occurred.
• The portal for non-emergency reporting is the Flood Online Reporting Tool: FORT – Home (geowessex.com). This information is shared with risk management authorities to ensure it goes to the correct organisation.
In an emergency, if there is a risk to life, report flooding to 999.
• For other emergency reporting, who you report the flooding to will depend on the source of the flood: https://www.gov.uk/report-flood-cause
• For main rivers: Environment Agency incident hotline (24hr) 0800 80 70 60
• For ordinary watercourses / surface water / roads: Dorset Council – 01305 221000
www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/emergencies-severe-weather/flooding
• For sewage / burst mains: Wessex Water 0345 600 4 600 (24hr) www.wessexwater.co.uk/your-wastewater/flooding/sewer-flooding
Being Prepared
• If you have an emergency plan, it is advisable to regularly review and exercise the plan, to ensure the details are up to date and that individuals are clear on actions to take. Having a plan will help your community respond quickly to emergencies such as flooding, reducing stress and confusion, and helping to mitigate the impacts.
• Resources for creating an emergency plan are available online at https://www.somersetprepared.org.uk/communities/ or https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/community-flood-plan-template/community-flood-plan.
• If you would like support with creating or reviewing your community emergency plan, get in touch with us at floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk.
• Some communities have community emergency volunteer or flood warden schemes. These volunteers do not do the job of the emergency services, but they can help a community enact its emergency plan, identify who is vulnerable and may need help, and in some cases communicate with the authorities.
• Communities Prepared is a national resilience programme that equips community emergency volunteers with the knowledge and confidence to prepare for and respond to emergencies. They have a free online hub: https://www.communitiesprepared.org.uk/. There are free self-led courses that include Flood Volunteer, What Happens During an Emergency, and Community Emergency Volunteer Coordinator.
• The Environment Agency supports community flood wardens and emergency volunteers by offering advice and guidance, and sending out a quarterly newsletter with useful information and news. Duty officers may also reach out to community contacts during an incident. If you would like to be added to the database please email floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk.