Gloucester Flooding Response. A few thoughts from a civilian

1. Gloucester Flooding Response.A few thoughts from a civilian!! Martin Kane, BSc, C.Eng, C.Env, MICE, MCIWEM, FIWO. Director of Customer Relations Severn Trent Water

3. What happened? Unprecedented rainfall over Severn and Avon catchments River levels in Tewkesbury higher than ever seen before Utility infrastructure inundated Controlled shut down of Mythe WTW Water supplies switch to tankers, bowsers and bottled water Biggest Operation ever undertaken by a UK Utility Company (by some distance!!)

5. Tewkesbury

6. Transport Infrastructure:(A40)

7. Walham (National Grid)

8. Castlemead, (Central Networks)

9. Mythe WTW, (STW)

10. Mythe WTW

11. Operation Outlook Instigated Chief Constable Gold Team Strategic Intentions: Preserve life Provide for the safety and reassurance of the public Minimise damage to property Minimise disruption and alleviate distress Restore normality

12. Alternative supplies - bowsers Distribution hub at Staverton Airport More than 150 tankers operating at any single point in time Around 1,500 bowsers mobilised Largest number ever used in a single incident in the UK Bowsers on loan from other companies Initial problems in meeting high demand Average three fills a day

13. Alternative supplies - bowsers

14. 24 Hour Team,Staverton Airfieldtanker and bowser operation

15. Alternative supplies:bottled water hub � Cheltenham Racecourse

16. Alternative supplies : bottled water local distribution site

17. Time Line Friday 20 July Unprecedented levels of rainfall. Major incident declared and Gold formed under Police co-ordination (STW not involved at this stage) STW issues emergency weather warning to works managers, triggering the normal operational response Sewage incident room opened to manage and respond to flooding Over 300 Sewage Pumping Station wet well alarms received in Gloucestershire Saturday 21 July Flooding throughout Gloucestershire EA predictions suggest Mythe will not flood However, flood preparations at Mythe as river levels rise

18. Time Line Sunday 22 July Mythe WTW flooded � controlled shutdown commences (0145hrs) and site evacuated (0600hrs) Tankering and sourcing/deployment of bowsers commences, together with preparations for return to site Customer website fails: returned to service in the evening Walham and Castlemead electricity stations also under threat STW join Gold Command Monday 23 July 70,000 properties without mains water - a further 70,000 properties under threat 250 bowsers deployed 150,000 litres of bottled water distributed via Tesco�s and Sainsbury�s 23 Sewage Pumping Stations not working due to power failure or flooding Castlemead power sub station fails.

19. Time Line Tuesday 24 July 140,000 properties without water Flood levels receding � partial access to Mythe regained 400 bowsers deployed 3 million bottles of water sourced per day for deployment 27 Sewage Pumping Stations not working due to power failure or flooding Walham stable and cautiously optimistic Castlemead Power sub station restored Wednesday 25 July Full access to Mythe regained - restoration work commences 900 bowsers deployed 4 million litres of bottled water sourced per day for deployment 21 Sewage Pumping Stations and 1 Sewage Treatment Works not working Chief Superintendent into STW HQ to assist with Command and Control Reinforcement of flood defences at Walham agreed through use of hesco bastions

20. Time Line Thursday 26 July Mythe restorations continue 1,100 bowsers deployed Plan to refill bowsers 3 times per day introduced. More efficient way of deploying and refilling bowsers implemented (�Hub and spoke� approach) 2nd customer contact centre opened to deal with calls specific to the flooding Building of semi-permanent flood defence begins at Walham Friday 27 July Restoration of Mythe continues 10,000 properties in Tewkesbury brought back into supply using water supplied via Strensham (�do not drink�) 1,200 bowsers deployed, 200 damaged 5 million litres of bottled water sourced each day for deployment Early weather warnings for Saturday 28 July Work on semi permanent flood defences at Mythe commences 4 Sewage Pumping Stations not working

21. Time Line Saturday 28 July Plant checks and repairs complete at Mythe Mythe starts pumping operations and commences filling service reservoirs Severe weather and flood warnings for area early evening and overnight 1,500 bowsers deployed, 300 damaged Bowser fill rate of 3 times per day being achieved Bottled water stocks maintained to meet demand Suspension of 65 hour working restrictions within STW STW donates �50,000 to Gloucestershire Flood Appeal Walham defence complete. Sunday 29 July Semi permanent flood defences at Mythe primarily complete (minor additional bolstering work required) Level of bowsers (net of damaged bowsers) maintained at approx. 1,200 Refill rate of 3 times per day being achieved Bottled water stocks maintained to meet demand 3 Sewage Pumping Stations not working

22. Mythe WTW

23. Mythe WTW Semi-permanent barrier around Mythe built with Military support � in place by 29 July,1km long built in c.24 hours. ( Would normally take 2 years to do a project like this!!)

25. Time Line Thursday 2 August All properties reconnected (�do not drink�) by 0545hrs Water still available from bowsers and through bottled supplies Friday 3 August All areas given �boil water� notice Quality sampling programme ongoing to enable move to �safe to drink� Monday 6 August Full automatic control of Mythe WTW regained

26. Time Line Tuesday 7 August Customers given �safe to drink� notice Wednesday 8 August STW says thanks to the community and announces �3.5m donation to assist affected communities in recovering from the incident Cost of incident estimated at �25-35 million, offset by insurance of between �10-20 million 17-20 September Customer drop in events - Gloucestershire

27. Gold Command:The Daily Routine for STW 06.00 STW Chief Exec. led conference call Reviewed yesterday, detailed plan for today, view forward for emerging issues, prepare briefing paper 09.00 Brief Gold Command team Review plan following Gold input 11.00 COBRA teleconference 12.00 media briefing, live to air BBC News 24, SKY and local TV and radio. One off media interviews (c.150 in two weeks) 15.00 STW Conference call 16.00 Gold team review and re plan as necessary

28. Observations around Gold Team STW arrived 2 days after most others As a Cat 2 responder we had not been involved with many emergency planning exercises, and had never been at the centre of one!! LRF was not known to us We did not know anybody from the other agencies, but they all seemed to know each other We did not know what was expected of us in terms of manpower, level of seniority and how this aligned with our own emergency response plans We had little understanding of the information requirements of Gold Command (or COBRA) We did not understand Silver at all at the beginning

29. Differences between a PLc and others at Gold Duties of Directors eg. H&S Disclosure rules to Stock exchange Corporate Governance Corporate Responsibility Relationships with all stakeholders and act with best interests of them in mind Ethical standards and behaviours Perception that we had unlimited amounts of cash and nobody else had any money!!

31. Health and Safety

32. Management style Our day to day style is one of collaborative decision making where staff are encouraged to challenge the status quo Staff are empowered to develop solutions to problems and implement them Command and Control environments are alien to our staff and our Supply Chain

33. We defined the relationship we want with our Staff and Supply Chain Trust Firm but fair Adult to adult � honest Environment to challenge Innovation and continuous improvement Healthy tension - positive not destructive �Safer, better, faster� Standardised and optimised

34. �to be the best water and waste water company in the UK today and everyday�

36. Severn Trent Water Services Team:Enhanced Resilience and Contingency Planning: This is where we started�.

37. Resilience Strategy: Our new approach post Mythe

39. Mitigation: Immediate and longer term actions With help from Energyst - Site contingency plans in place at:- 13 Water Treatment Works, 9 River Intakes, 8 Groundwater sites, 1 Distribution Booster Station With help from ABB/ power companies :- Number of incomers, Auto Change Over, Primary Sub Stations, Clean Feeders, Fault Levels Emergency generator plans Temporary flood defence delivered at 4 critical sites.

42. With detailed network plans which include:

43. And a new tool to model �Alternative Supplies� deployment Refill schedules for each bowser x3 per day, site refill vs. swap by DMA, by driver: development of driver routes for each bowser driver packs on shelf ready to go confirmation of refill (SMS)

44. And bowser deployment plans for each area Pre-planned bowser locations 1 bowser for every 330 people, 80% of the population should be within 300metres of bowser location Risk assessed & agreed with stakeholders Safe and accessible for public Logistically accessible Activity plans in place chlorination, fill, primary movement Drawings of physical site set up. Management controls, traffic volume controls

45. And bottled water distribution plans for each area Strategic storage locations and volumes Designated suppliers supplier database: availability, flexible contracts secured, prices, exceptions Assessed hand out locations within 2.5 miles of every customer in an urban area and 10 miles of every customer in a rural area Inbound plan Time schedules (plan for no holding facility � straight to customer distribution locations) Empty pallet control plan Site infrastructure plan Operators : link with Local Authorities as distributors , Signs and barriers , Lighting , Traffic control, Security Home delivery schedules

46. Response plans have been developed for all identified critical Water Treatment sites. Interim flood defence measures have been installed at sites with a potential to flood. Network reinforcement schemes are being promoted to eliminate the risk due to single points of failure in our infrastructure. As a Cat. 2 responder we need to be included in a wider range of LRF activity to gain an understanding of how it works, and this is underway Early communication, we used the media well but customers wanted more from us directly. We provided sufficient water to maintain basic standard of living and hygiene to 350,000 customers: we are documenting this with the LRF for future events Emergency measures directive of 10 l/head needs review and should include 10l/head bottled water and 10l/hd bowser supply. Alternative supplies capability without mutual aid is unrealistic. We had assistance from many other water companies and our contractors We have provided a full Report and given evidence to the many public enquiries following the events in Gloucestershire. We would not wish others to have to endure what we and our customers went through last year