Army and Environment Agency join forces for winter

Training day for Wiltshire-based troops and Environment Agency in bid to support communities across Thames region.

The Army and Environment Agency have joined forces in a “winter ready” training day, with the aim of being able to support vulnerable communities across the Thames region.

Military personnel have been taking part in multiple training exercises through the year, following the devastation caused by last years December floods. They have worked across the country to ensure that they are prepared to reduce any impacts of flooding across the UK. More than 1,200 troops have been put on 24-hour standby to help in the event of flooding this winter.

Last week it was Wiltshire’s turn with troops from 5th Battalion the Rifles and The King’s Royal Hussars carrying out flood defence training with the Environment Agency’s Operations Delivery team.

As part of the training, temporary barriers were erected which work by creating an artificial wall to black the flow of the water across the floodplain, which would prevent it from reaching properties at risk, without increasing impact elsewhere.

Temporary flood defences are a short term fix to limit the impacts of flooding, and generally have no fixed foundation requiring only minor work in preparation, such as vegetation clearance and levelling the found to enable their use.

Operations Manager for the Environment Agency, Maria Herlihy said: “We have a strong partnership with the Army and have worked closely with them to help communities affected by flooding in previous years. This crucial partnership will strengthen our resilience, enabling battalions to be on hand to help with erecting temporary flood barriers, providing engineering and logistics support, and assisting with the evacuation of affected communities”.

As a result of the governments preparation for the winter of 2016, the Ministry of Defence has also reviewed the way that the military supports authorities and have made the mobilisation process easier during major flood incidents.

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