Uckfield is 'disaster town' in major emergency exercise

A major emergency exercise this week will have Uckfield as one of the “disaster towns”.

Emergency services will be on high alert as a scenario of rainfall and storms put Sussex under threat from the rivers and sea.

Properties will be at risk of flooding, homes will be evacuated and lives will be at risk without help from emergency responders.

Exercise Watermark, the nation's biggest emergency exercise, will run from today (Monday) until March 11.

Across the country, thousands of people from local communities, government departments, agencies and emergency responders will be involved.

It will test the country's responses to catastrophic flooding from overflowing rivers, collapsing reservoirs and tidal surges.

Staff from the Environment Agency, local authorities and emergency services in Sussex will come together to take part in this exercise by testing responses and making critical decisions as devastating floods are simulated across the area.

Most of the action will take place on Tuesday (March 8), with live-time simulations to test flooding responses at Selsey, Uckfield and Gatwick Airport.

Simultaneously at Sussex Police headquarters in Lewes, senior representatives will meet to set the strategy to deal with these multiple incidents and communications staff will exercise how they can most effectively get essential information out to the media and public.

Other local exercises taking place on Tuesday include:

* East Sussex County Council, Lewes District Council and Wealden District Council will test emergency rest centres for people who would have to leave their homes during a flood in Uckfield, Newhaven and Seaford.

* Mock evacuations will also take place in flood risk areas of Lewes, Newhaven and Seaford. Volunteers from a local college and sheltered housing in Uckfield will act out evacuation scenarios.

James Humphrys, Environment Agency Director, Southern, said: "Climate change presents us with rising sea levels, more extreme weather and more frequent and widespread flooding. Recent events around the world have been a reminder to us all that we are at the mercy of nature. But if we regularly prepare and test how we react to a flood we will be in a better position to manage the consequences."