Lincolnshire County Council and South Kesteven District Council, as a local authority, are identified in the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 as category 1 responders and as such have a duty to plan for civil emergencies, which includes flooding.
Category 1 responders also include:
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Lincolnshire Police, including the British Transport Police
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Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue Service
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East Midlands Ambulance Service
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HM Coastguard
The definition of an emergency, according to the Civil Contingencies Act, is:
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an event or situation which threatens serious damage to human welfare in a place in the United Kingdom
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an event or situation which threatens serious damage to the environment of a place in the United Kingdom; or
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war, or terrorism which threatens serious damage to the security of the United Kingdom
Lincolnshire County Council is the lead local flood Authority and should be contacted in the first instance on 01522 782082 for flooding enquiries or requests for support.
Immediate Risk:
If residents feel there is an imminent risk of flooding with threat to life or property, they should contact the Fire Service immediately, dialling 999.
South Kesteven District Council:
There is no statutory requirement for local authorities to provide sandbags to private residents or business owners and they are responsible for protecting their own property from floodwater and it is highly recommended that they have plans in place to do so. We advise anyone who feels they are at risk of flooding to invest in some form of flood protection. You can find information on what products are available on the National Flood Forum website.
We would also recommend that residents sign up to flood warnings by following this link to the website: https://www.gov.uk/sign-up-for-flood-warnings
Please also find below a link to the Lincolnshire Community Risk Register which includes a section on flooding and 'self-help' on pages 10 and 11: community-risk-register-for-lincolnshire-2018-2021
South Kesteven District Council maintains a small stock of sandbags and sand located at strategic locations across the district and during emergency situations, members of staff will be deployed to deliver sandbags to affected areas under the direction of the officer's co-ordinating the emergency response or at the request of emergency services.
The Council has a duty as a landlord to support vulnerable council tenants and the property and they can call 01476 40 6080 or 01476 40 6040 out of hoursif they require a delivery of sand bags and have received no response from the LCC or Emergency services. SKDC staff will deliver but not deploy, except in exceptional circumstances, sand bags and are not able to enter areas of flooded water.If you property is already flooded then the resident must contact the Emergency services
All requests for sandbags will be triaged by the on-call team dealing with the requests. If there is no immediate threat to property or life, then these will not be prioritised and if the property is empty then SKDC will not attend or provide sandbags.
Parish Council:
A number of Parish Councils who have previously experienced localised flooding now hold a stock of sand and bags that can be obtained direct from the Parish Council in the event of a flooding emergency. All Parish Councils taking the offer should make residents aware of the local contact details/arrangements for obtaining sand and bags. The provision of sand and bags is for flooding response only.
The offer remains open to Parish Councils who can meet the criteria for storage and distribution.