Scottish Flood Forum

The Scottish Flood Forum has released two new factsheets for flood victims and flood affected communities.

The factsheets can be found here.

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Once again the recent rain has caused wide spread and devastating flooding. Sadly many business and families have had their property destroyed or badly damaged by flood waters. We are liaising with our colleagues in local councils, government and other agencies to  identify how we can best assist flood hit communities.

The Scottish Flood Forum has already written to Moray Council offering help and support during the recovery period. Please keep an eye on this website, the Moray Council website and the local newspaper for further information on the assistance we will be providing over the coming weeks and months.

Both the recently flooded communities in Milnathort and Cupar have benefitted from the expertise and support advice, from the SFF, where regular weekly flood surgeries provide real help.

If you have been flooded and need help please download the Scottish Flood Forum Post Flooding Factsheet, and feel free to make contact with Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum. We are here as a free service to help flood affected communities.

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Just as promised earlier, Paul Hendy of the Scottish Flood Forum was joined by John Thomson of Freuchie Flood Action Group during a visit to the flood affected town of Cupar.

Upon arrival Paul and John found the local church minister talking to a group of affected residents. Flood recovery companies had been onsite to start the clear-up process and loss adjusters and surveyors were consulting with residents about the flood damage to their homes.

A number of homes had been affected by the flash flood that had hit Ceres Road, bring down garden walls, flooding lower floors of homes, depositing mud and silt on every surface the flood waters touched and general causing devastation to this community.

 
Photos: Damage to homes and property in Ceres Road, Cupar

The badly affected Burnside area and town centre were also visited with information leaflets being provided to businesses and householders. It had also been reported in the media that Springfield had been badly hit by flooding,  but thankfully no properties appeared to have been damaged by the flood water.

The Scottish Flood Forum will be setting up support services over the coming weeks and months to assist this community. Please keep an eye on this website and the local newspapers for further information.

Technorati Tags: Ceres Road, Cupar, flood, flooding, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Paul Hendy, Scottish Flood Forum, Springfield

4 feet of flood water – appears to have seriously affected the heart of Cupar, so armed with leaflets and accompanied by John Thomson from the Freuchie Flood Action Group were off to see what help and support we can bring.

Watch this space for further updates.

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The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to membership of the Edinburgh Business Protection Policy Group. This group is a proactive network from the business community who regularly come together to discuss risks and threats to businesses from a variety of sources. It is run under the auspices of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

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The Scottish Flood Forum has been accepted into full membership of the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce.

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Paul Hendy wont admit it but the arrival of little Euan means that he is officially a grandfather.

Sympathy in cards will be greatly received.

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You will be forgiven for mistakenly thinking this was a conference relating to the common cold, swine flu or other inherent seasonal nasties, however SNIFFER stands for … Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum For Environmental Research.

Once again a very informative and professional conference where representatives engaged in environmental issues flooding etc. come together to share best practice and learning from all aspects of the process. The Scottish Flood Forum was invited to share its expertise and experience regarding the development of community flood groups and supporting vulnerable and at risk individuals and areas through resilience training and information. Diversity of common cold leading to diversity of SNIFFER engagement in community support.

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Something FREE in Scotland, this is something you won’t want to miss. Places are limited but if you register as soon as possible there may yet be room. The Scottish Flood Forum has worked very closely with SEPA on this event to ensure people get real life practical information they can take back to their place of employment.

Who knows lessons learnt may just save your company from total extinction. I have been responsible for securing many of the speakers for the conference and all of them have developed practical programmes and systems to ensure recovery and businesses continuity is a prime focus. Most of this information has never been made available to the public sector before.

I have seen first hand the impact of flooding on businesses, and have personally shared in supporting employers and employees to cope with the trauma of recovery. I have spoken to Directors who refused to let their competitors know they were flooded so as to maintain trading advantage. That meant in one instance moving the whole admin department upstairs to a small box room for 5 months, other staff were laid off for 3 months, data was irretrievably lost, and it could happen to you.

Our speakers have been chosen for the right mix of developing and delivering continuity plans into practical action.  It worked for them it may just work for you.

Other speakers join us from the rural communities. With representatives from Emergency planning, Environmental Health, and Insurance sectors.

For bookings – e-mail jean.atkinson@sepa.org.uk 

For more information – e-mail Michelle.stone@sepa.org.uk

Speaker details will be on this site next week.

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While summing up the Stage 1 debate for the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill on the 22nd January 2009,  Mike Russell MSP, Minister of the Environment said the funding formula was negotiated and agreed with COSLA. He said that schemes in process, scheme planned and properties at risk was the criteria used to work out the formula, and this could be developed or changed. He said that the Scottish Government was open to discussion regarding schemes that had changed in nature. He said that the support provided by the Scottish Flood Forum could help those affected by flooding. He confirmed that emergency response was not included in the Bill. He said that there were more skills than simply hydrology.

We really must thank the Minister for his kind comments and recognise that without the Scottish Government’s support and funding this service would not be available to the many flood risk areas throughout Scotland.

Freuchie Flood Action Group also has an interesting blog post about this debate, along with useful additional resources.

Technorati Tags: Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Bill, Freuchie Flood Action Group, Mike Russell, Scottish Flood Forum