A network of digital sensors would be an ‘absolute dream’ for emergency planners during a flood incident – Mick Devine and Amy Boyd at Wakefield Council explain why.

Pictured: Flooding incident at Barnsdale Road Around 6,600 homes in the Wakefield district are permanently at risk of flooding from sudden storms. It’s actually surface water flooding that poses a bigger threat to the area than rising river levels as parts of the district’s drainage system could easily be overwhelmed by heavy rain. This is … Read more

Digital sensor workshops to discuss plans for early warning of flooding

Pictured: Paul Maddison, flood manager of Wakefield Council, presents at the workshop Plans to develop a network of digital sensors to give early warning of surface water flooding which is a real issue for West Yorkshire was the topic of a workshop held at University of Leeds. People who have had their homes flooded, flood wardens … Read more

Plans for a new digital solution to give early flood warnings  

Plans are underway to create a network of sensors across West Yorkshire to give people earlier warnings about the risk of surface water flooding. Board membersfromWest Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme have successfully bid for £97,000 from the Discovery Phase of round six of the Local Digital Fund to test whether using smart technology for such a … Read more

WY FLIP – Working together to get results

Tangible results are starting to be achieved by the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WY FLIP) just a year after it was first launched. Partners have joined together to bid for extra funds for their region to make it more resilient to flooding and climate change. An example to illustrate how their collaborative ways of … Read more

Innovative action to increase resilience to flooding and climate change in West Yorkshire

A new animation has been created to promote the benefits of West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WY FLIP) since it began a year ago to increase resilience to flooding and climate change in the region. Ambassador for WY FLIP and Deputy Leader of Calderdale Council, Councillor Jane Scullion, launched the animation at Yorkshire Integrated Catchment … Read more

Positive feedback on our flood engagement sessions

We are delighted to be getting really positive feedback on our flood engagement exercises and bookings from national, regional and local teams.

Our first face-to-face exercise was held with incident management staff who work with Leeds City Council.

This is what Carl Fisher and Ian Hope took away from the day – we captured their thoughts on video

Some of the other positive comments we have receieved are:-

“The scenarios really encouraged me to remember to think about flood events from different perspectives.”

“Really enjoyed the session and how engaging it was. Definitely worth it! I thought the discussions around it were great and the facilitating was done really well.”

“I learnt a lot about the most effective communication and how challenging it can be to get right. I think there are a lot of takeaways for the incident team to put into practice that we possibly haven’t come across or thought as deeply about before. It will definitely help to start those conversations and I’d encourage anyone involved in incidents to participate.”

“I will take away the importance of tailoring engagement to the target demographic but also considering people in the minority/margins, using a consistent, clear approach.”

“The facilitators created a great, inclusive environment. The number of participants was good (not too small or large) and the realistic but fictitious scenario made it easy to relate to, while allowing you to think differently and consider a range of factors.”

The exercise is part of a project we are delivering working with partners to improve communications about flood risk using engagement tools.

Our aim is to support Risk Management Authorities to engage more effectively with their communities, increasing resilience to flood risk and the impact of climate change.

We are delivering the free sessions for groups of flood wardens, teams who work in incident management, community groups and anyone interested in communicating better during flood events.

Bookings have now been extended until the summer and can be made online , so do get in touch if you have a group that would like to take part. It’s fun, interactive and opens your eyes to new challenges.

Spread the word – New flood incident engagement exercise

We’ve been working with our partners across the region to launch our exciting new flood incident engagement exercise  to help Risk Management Authorities, (RMAs) and the wider community improve how they communicate during flood events. This is part of our  Communicating Flood Risk project which aims to improve engagement, address challenges surrounding community resilience and promote … Read more

Communicating Flood Risk – Flood Engagement Exercise

iCASP has launched an exciting project to help Risk Management Authorities (RMAs), their partners and the wider community improve flood risk communication during an incident to help increase the resilience of those at risk. To facilitate this we have developed a flood engagement exercise for individuals working in flood incident response this includes both RMAs and engaged … Read more

Innovative action plan gets funding to reduce the impact of flooding across West Yorkshire

An innovative plan to reduce the impact of flooding and climate change in West Yorkshire over the next six years is being launched during national Flood Action Week. Spearheaded by five local Lead Flood Authorities across the region, the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (FLIP) has just been achieved a successful bid for £160k local … Read more