Edinburgh's emergency response plan
Since the severe flooding in parts of England in June, July and August, you may be wondering if Edinburgh is prepared for such a crisis.
Along with the flood prevention measures being put in place along the Braid Burn and the Water of Leith, the Council also has an overall emergency response plan for river flooding.
Dealing with flooding – plan of action
If rivers reach, or are expected to reach, a certain level, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) would immediately inform the Council and Lothian and Borders Police. Depending on the situation and the weather forecast, a decision would then be made to convene the Flood Group, chaired by the Police and including representatives from appropriate Council departments, the Emergency and Health Services, Scottish Water, SEPA and Forth Ports plc. Lothian and Borders Police would then co-ordinate the overall emergency response for the Lothian and Borders area.
At the same time, the Council would set up an emergency co-ordination team based in the Council Emergency Co-ordination Centre.
The emergency co-ordination team would support the efforts of the other agencies to reduce the effects of the flooding.
A flood response team would be based at the Council’s McLeod Street Depot to oversee the distribution of sandbags and wooden flood barriers to areas at risk.
The Council has about 20,000 sandbags pre-filled and ready to use in case of flooding.
To learn from the experiences of the recent floods in England, the Scottish Government has asked all local councils to re-evaluate their local emergency plans.
Our review is currently under way.