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Reach
Issue 6 2014
Dramatic weather
shows value of robust
plans and procedures
T
he St Jude’s Day storms in
October have been described
as the worst storms to hit the
UK since 1987. They were followed
in December by even more extreme
weather conditions hitting Wales,
Scotland and the east of the UK,
causing a tidal surge greater than
that of 1953.
News and weather reports showed
many scenes of devastation,
reporting fatalities, power loss to
more than 600,000 homes, and
substantial damage to property.
The Airwave Network and
Service is critical to the work of
the emergency services during severe
weather, and we have robust plans
and procedures in place that are
exhaustively tested and practised to
ensure the best possible support is
on hand for the first responders.
Airwave teams were in fact taking
part in one of their regular emergency
planning exercises when they were
alerted to the threat of the tidal
surge. Mark Jones, Airwave’s Head
of Business Continuity and Planning,
takes up the story. “We were using
the exercise to review our response
to St Jude, which actually had little
impact on the Airwave Service
aside from power loss at a number
of sites, and this was mitigated by
the Network’s battery back-up and
standby generators.
