Working with your community to prepare for emergencies
Emergencies can, and do happen, they may not always be those big bang emergencies. There will be times when you may be affected by an emergency, but your life is not in immediate danger. During this time, individuals and communities may need to rely on their own resources to ensure they are able to cope with any consequences that fall out of the emergency. How resilient is your community?
What is a community?
We define a community as a group of people who come together around a common theme. It could be location based (such as a street, town or village) or activity based (such as a local Scouts group).
I’m not in a flood risk area, why should I write a plan?
Whilst flooding is the biggest risk that Norfolk could face, there are plenty of other emergencies you may want to plan for.
We use the Community Risk Register to identify and assess risks to the County at a strategic level, as a community you are more likely to be aware of the hyper-local issues that impact you. These could be localised flooding, or a road traffic collision that blocks your main access and egress routes.
What support is available? And how much work is involved?
We’ve tried to include as much information and content on the Norfolk Prepared website, your District Local Authority Emergency Planning team may be able to give you some more support.
The amount of work involved depends on the type of plan you’re looking to develop, and whether you’re doing it as a standalone group or with your Parish and Town Council.
Here are some other great websites to check out:
How do I know what risks to plan for?
The Norfolk Prepared website will give you a basic overview of the risks that face Norfolk, the National Risk Register will give you a UK wide context.
You can sign up to our Community Warning and Informing system by clicking on the following link
What does a resilient community look like?
Communities all over the UK are already involved in preparing for emergencies. We define a resilient community as one that:
- Is aware of the risks they may face (nationally and locally) and how vulnerable they are to them.
- Uses existing skills, knowledge and resources to plan for and deal with the consequences of emergencies.
- Works in partnership with local responders, where appropriate, to mitigate, plan and respond to emergencies.
- Understands who may require additional support in their community during an emergency.
A community working together in an emergency just makes sense
What can you do?
You know your community best. You may be a member of a variety of communities; either geographical, cultural, religious or social – each of these communities is full of existing networks and relationships that are well placed to plan for and support each other during an emergency. Take a look at our Community Emergency Plan and Supporting Documentation page for templates.
