Amber weather warning: flood alert
The Met Office have escalated their rain alert from yellow to amber.
Website launch restarted following a period of mourning for Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II
Messaging around our new website was paused as the county paid respects to the Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and we absorbed the sad news of her passing.
During this period, the Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) turned its attention to keeping the public informed regarding vital information such as tributes, road closures, staying safe in crowds and details of proclamation events and church services.
We are now restarting our initiative to help residents prepare and respond to local emergencies, and alert them to this invaluable new online resource - packed full of protection guidance around the county’s top risks.
It takes 106 multi-agency plans to manage the 86 emergencies that could occur over an 3079km² area to keep the county’s 1.53m residents safe – but the LRF has it covered and has shared its expertise on a brand new website.
The top nine risks for the county are: flooding, storms and gales, pandemic, cold weather and snow, heatwave, wildfires, industrial incident, loss of essential services and terrorist attack.
The new online resource www.lancashireprepared.org.uk outlines the potential impact of each of these emergencies, and includes:
Protect yourself pages, detailing what people can do to safeguard themselves and their families before, during and after an incident.
Links and downloads to help people be prepared for an emergency, including making a household plan and what to include in an emergency pack.
Protect your business pages, detailing how business-owners and managers can prepare and put a plan in place for the risks that could disrupt operations.
National, regional and local news affecting Lancashire.
Case studies and personal stories describing how agencies and the public have come together to face crises in their communities.
The opportunity to sign up for alerts about risks in local areas.
Regular posts with signposting on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn @LancsResilience - beginning with 30 days of tips, facts, quizzes and signposting in support of the national campaign #30Days30WaysUK.
The LRF brings together partners including the emergency services, local authorities, health services, the Environment Agency, utility and transport companies and voluntary groups. They work together to ensure that if and when an emergency occurs, they are prepared to respond together and minimise any impact. The forum carries out continuous training and testing to make sure they are ready for incidents, learning from emergencies when they happen to improve future response.
“Our priority is making sure that residents in Lancashire have the right information to help them plan, prepare and respond to risks and emergencies should they arise,” said Liz Riding, LRF Warning and Informing Group Chair.
“Our social media channels and the website create a central point for key tips and all the information they may need. Working together makes all the difference, and there is so much the public can do to help us to help them in an emergency, then recover with as little damage as possible. Please join forces with us by signing up for alerts on the website and spreading the word on social media.”
To mark the launch of the new website, the LRF has prepared an emergency pack to give away. To be in with a chance to win it, all entrants have to do is sign up to receive alerts by Wednesday 2nd November 2022.
The emergency pack includes a rucksack, wind-up radio, torch, first aid kit, snow shovel for the car, a blanket, a copy of the household emergency plan, pens and a notepad, and a £100 Amazon voucher.
Editor’s note
The Lancashire Resilience Forum (LRF) is a partnership of over 70 agencies who work together to ensure that if and when an emergency occurs they are prepared to respond together and minimise any impact.
The LRF is one of a number of Local Resilience Forums across England established in response to the Civil Contingencies Act (CCA) 2004 to provide a new legislative framework for civil protection in the event of emergencies in the UK. Partner agencies have a duty to consider the hazards that feature in Lancashire, assess the impacts of the risk and provide this information to the public in a Community Risk Register.
