How the Environment Agency works with Flood Wardens
- Avon and Somerset: Community Risk Register | Avon and Somerset Police
- Dorset: Dorset Local Resilience Forum | Community Resilience Hub | Dorset
- Wiltshire and Swindon: Our LRF Structure - Wiltshire & Swindon Prepared
What is a Flood Warden?
Around 6.3 million properties are currently at risk of flooding in England. As the impact of climate change increases, this number is expected to rise, making it more important than ever for individuals, businesses and communities to be prepared.
Flood Wardens and Emergency Volunteers play a critical role in helping their communities understand their flood risk and actions to take. They are key conduits for information, and crucially, they help create and enact an emergency plan to respond to flooding when it occurs.
By raising awareness, encouraging preparedness and supporting local flood plans, they can help reduce the impacts of flooding and speed up recovery when floods occur.
Flood wardens are not a replacement for the emergency services - they have a very different role to play. They should not put themselves in danger, and should never enter floodwater.
The following video was recorded from one of our Lunch and Learn sessions, giving an overview of the Flood Warden role.
If you'd like to join us for our Lunch and Learn online presentations, email floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk for more information.
How we work with Flood Wardens
While the Environment Agency can provide guidance, information and support, community flood groups and volunteers remain independent. The Environment Agency does not recruit or manage volunteers, provide insurance or equipment, or take responsibility for volunteer activities and safety arrangements.
The Environment Agency works with communities and partners to improve flood resilience. We provide information on local flood risk, promote flood warnings and preparedness, support the development and testing of community flood plans, and help communities understand what to expect before, during and after flooding. Following a flood, we support communities with advice, signposting to recovery services and help to strengthen future resilience.
In the Wessex area, we support flood wardens with:
Writing a community emergency flood plan
Flood maps and information on our flood warning service
Templates for flood plans, flood action cards and checklists
Copies of our flood awareness and recovery guides to share with your community
Help to network with other communities
Help to test your plan
Monthly online lunch and learn sessions on subjects related to your Flood Warden role
Face-to-face workshops with advice and guidance
To help us support you, we keep a contact list of flood warden volunteers in our area. If you are a flood warden or are interested in becoming one, please email us at floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk with your name, your community and your contact details so we can keep in touch.
Flood Wardens and Local Resilience Forums
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) are multi-agency partnerships that bring together emergency services, local authorities, health organisations, utilities, government agencies and other key responders to plan for, respond to and recover from emergencies. They help coordinate efforts before, during and after incidents such as flooding, severe weather and other major disruptions, ensuring that organisations work together effectively to support communities.
Multi-agency staff out in the community
Community emergency volunteers play an important role within this wider resilience framework. Working alongside parish councils and responding agencies, they use their local knowledge to share information, support vulnerable residents, prepare communities for emergencies and assist with local recovery efforts, helping to strengthen community resilience and complement the response of professional responders.
Flood Wardens can share information with our Flood Warning Duty Officers, who are on duty 24/7, 365 days a year, to help inform decision making. Our officers may also reach out to Flood Wardens during flooding to share updates and find out more about impacts in your community.
Local Resilience Forums are based on police area footprints. The three main Wessex area LRFs are:
The following video was recorded from one of our Lunch and Learn sessions, giving an overview of the role of the Local Resilience Forum.
If you'd like to join us for our Lunch and Learn online presentations, email floodwessex@environment-agency.gov.uk for more information.