WHAT would happen if a disaster hit Westbury?
The question was considered by the town council’s emergency planning working group last week, in a desktop exercise set by Wiltshire Council.
The aim of the exercise was to explore problems the town might have to tackle in the face of a disaster or emergency – and what they town could do to combat them.
A scenario set by Wiltshire Council on Wednesday 3rd April saw Westbury cut off by a fall of 14 inches of snow, combined with rising winds to produce severe drifting. Roads were closed, few trains were running, and people were stranded both in and away from the town.
The scenario also included an elderly lady with signs of hypothermia, a mother in labour, people trapped in cars, and homes without power. Homes were at risk of losing their gas supply, and people in the town were unable to get to shops, the surgery or chemists.
Councillor Ian Cunningham, of the emergency planning working group, said, “Fortunately, this weather emergency only happened in a series of sealed envelopes that were provided by Wiltshire Council as part of their parish training exercises they run around the county. This weather white-out was only one of a number scenarios we might have drawn on the night.
“In Westbury, we have only recently established an emergency planning group following on from our flood planning group (formed last year) so we don’t yet have a detailed plan, but the exercise was interesting as way to help us build on our plan and see how much we need to do and how events can overtake you.”
There was no ‘pass or fail’ result in the exercise: the concept was to allow parish councils to learn from the scenario.
Cllr Cunningham said, “There are detailed planning functions at national and county level who coordinate with fire brigades, police, ambulance, heath services and a variety of skilled groups such as first responders, trained drivers who have all planned and trained for a variety emergencies – we are not on our own.
“At a town and parish level our function is to identify local resources that can be used to help these professional efforts. So we might provide warm locations for those who have been rescued or evacuated; get information to our residents; make use of existing networks to check that our more vulnerable citizens have warmth, food medication; perhaps ask a local farmer to use a tractor or 4×4 to get a health professional to an isolated patient.
“There are a lot of skilled and helpful people right here in our community – and quite a few resources.
“We need to plan and communicate to ensure that we don’t duplicate effort, “help out” where our “help” is getting in the way of more qualified agencies or even risk adding to the victim count.”
The town council is now calling for people who are interested in emergency planning, or would have services to offer in a disaster. If you can help, please contact Keith Harvey or Barbara Mantle at Westbury Town Council.
Cllr Cunningham added, “Emergency planning is one of those things like insurance – it all seems a bit of a waste if you never have to use it – but it is very clear that having a plan which identifies people and resources as well as possible issues and solutions can greatly help a community and the professional services that support us all.”
