While the prospect of warmer Summers may seem appealing, the reality of global warming may be more severe flooding

In March this year, 70 members of the RNLI Flood Rescue Team helped test whether England and Wales are prepared to deal with the threat of inland flooding when they participated in Britain’s largest-ever civil emergency exercise. Known as Exercise Watermark, this 4-day event simulated catastrophic floods like those seen in 1953 when 307 people lost their lives in the UK.

In all, 10,000 people participated in the exercise that involved 10 Government departments, emergency responders, utility companies, hospitals and schools. The rehearsal came as the result of a recommendation by Sir Michael Pitt who conducted a wide-ranging report following flooding in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire in the Summer of 2007.

The event, which was organised by the Environment Agency on behalf of DEFRA and the Welsh Assembly, took place over 4 days in early March at Bala in north Wales, Tattershall Lake in Lincolnshire and Ardleigh Reservoir in Essex. One of its main aims was to improve communications between the different bodies involved in flood relief.

There are numerous agencies that assist with flood rescue, making planning and logistics extremely complicated. When a flood is imminent in England or Wales, calls for help will be made to rescue organisations, the largest of which is the RNLI. Rescue operations are then coordinated by the Police but on-the-scene operations are run by the Fire and Rescue service.

The RNLI has flood teams throughout the UK and RoI but because of regional government devolution similar flood exercises are so far only planned in England and Wales. However, RNLI teams from the RoI, NI and Scotland are listed as available and would also be deployed wherever they were needed.

The RNLI has been involved in international flood rescue work since 1970 but a dedicated domestic team was only established in 2009 after several call outs showed that standard training was not enough to prepare volunteers for the hazards of flood water.

During Exercise Watermark, RNLI volunteers got the opportunity to work alongside crews from Fire and Rescue, the RAF, MCA, RSPCA, British Red Cross, Mountain Rescue and specialist ambulance crews. Rescue scenarios included a semi-submerged caravan with three people trapped inside, and casualties needing to be evacuated from the rooftops of submerged houses, cars and from fast flowing water.

RNLI volunteer Paul Filby, who took part in the exercises in north Wales says: ‘It was really worthwhile training. It was good to see how people from different organisations work. It forged some great working relationships and friendships between the different organisations and brought down a lot of barriers. I think that any subsequent rescues will be much better because of this working relationship.’

Robin Goodlad, RNLI Flood Response Manager says: ‘The event was extremely well run, and as close as you can get to a real flood. It was good to test the infrastructure and showed we had the ability to cope. It gave the RNLI teams a really good opportunity to work with all the organisations that they would be working with in a real flood incident.’

Robin has been involved in flood-rescue work for the RNLI for the past 10 years. He explained how vital it is that volunteers are trained to understand the many unseen hazards that lurk beneath and within flood water.

‘Even in really shallow water, if it’s fast flowing you can’t stand up if it’s more than calf deep. If a person’s foot becomes trapped in an unseen hole they can be pulled down and held under the water.

'Fast flowing water often traps people against what are known as ‘strainers’, such as fences, through and around which water is flowing. Once pinned against such a barrier it can become impossible to get away. Flood water also carries sewage and pollutants and further risks arise from wet electrical equipment.'

This was graphically demonstrated during one incident in Lewes, East Sussex, in 2000, when an RNLI boat was sucked down beneath the water after being pinned alongside a bridge. All the crew members survived unharmed, but only just. The last man onboard narrowly escaped being pulled under the bridge where wire and debris meant he would have stood no hope of surviving. Today, anyone involved in flood-relief work for the RNLI will be a certified swift-water technician, with a thorough understanding of the distinct dangers of flood waters.

The devastating flooding of 1953 was caused by a combination of high spring tides and a severe windstorm resulting in a tidal surge down the North Sea. Water levels reached 5.6m above average, overwhelming sea defences in the Netherlands, Belgium and on the east coast of England. The international death toll is thought to have been 2,400.

Today, according to the Environment Agency, one in six homes in England and Wales is at risk of flooding and the annual bill from flood damage in these two countries alone is £1.2B. Rising sea levels and increasingly severe and frequent rain storms caused by climate change mean that this situation is only likely to get worse.

In 2009, Paul Filby was part of the rescue operation in Cumbria. A lifeboat crew member at Criccieth in Wales for 27 years, he described the situation they faced: ‘The water was running through the town and buildings at such a fast pace. It was absolute carnage; I’d never seen anything like it.

'Lifeboat calls at sea can be over in an hour or so. With flood-rescue work we know we are going to be away for several days and don’t quite know what is going to happen. There is fear, shock and excitement all rolled into one.

‘With flood rescue, the RNLI is extending the boundaries. I’m just so happy and proud to be part of it.’

RNLI FLOOD RESCUE TEAM (FRT)

• 6 divisions and 16 boat teams
• 300 members in the UK and RoI
• 60 members eligible for international service

The RNLI relies on voluntary donations for the funding of its UK flood-relief work but recently gained a one-off grant to buy equipment required by new DEFRA regulations. The FRT is also receiving sponsorship from Toolstation until 2013.