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| Flood Awareness Day shall inform fire fighters as well as residents about ways of planning a flood rescue |
How to plan for and deal with flooding will be the focus for homeowners and businesses thanks to a Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) co-ordinated event later this month.
Yalding Parish Council is hosting the multi-agency event at The Lees, Lees Road, Yalding on Saturday, 18 September. It will see organisations from across the county showcase the role both they and residents can play if they are unfortunate enough to experience flooding.
Paul Ramsden, Station Manager at Tonbridge Fire Station, is coordinating the day. He said: “The main aims of the day are to show residents how they can plan for and deal with flooding and its aftermath, in order to try and reduce the potentially catastrophic results of incidents of this nature. KFRS and its colleagues from other organisations are also there to illustrate how we can support residents and what resources we have to help deal with incidents of this kind.”
He added: “It is vital that home and business owners equip themselves with the knowledge of what could happen during a flood and we hope that this event will go some way towards achieving this.”
Geraldine Brown, Chairman of Yalding Parish Council, said: “We have been so impressed by the huge improvement in communications between agencies and with the general public since the floods that devastated much of Kent and Sussex in 2000 that we willingly agreed to support KFRS and host this event.”
Tonbridge Fire Station’s new inland boat, a fire engine, a Community Safety Unit showing video footage of flooding and KFRS’s specialist Urban Search and Rescue Team will be there on the day, along with numerous displays from agencies including the Environment Agency, Kent Police, National Flood Forum, Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council Emergency Planning teams and Golding Homes.
Mark Douch, Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager for Kent and East Sussex, said: “We are very pleased to be working with Kent Fire and Rescue Service to help people understand what they can do to protect themselves from flooding and are prepared in case it does happen. Taking a few simple steps to protect your home and family from flooding, just as you would from a burglar or a fire, could save you thousands of pounds and months of worry. Come along and visit us at Yalding and find out how you can become more flood resilient.”
The event starts at 10am and runs alongside the village’s monthly Farmers’ Markets’ 10th anniversary celebrations.
