Moray Council updates emergency response measures
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Moray Council has come up with an action plan to try improve how the region responds in the face of an emergency.
A local review took place following Storm Arwen at the end of November which caused widespread damage to property and left rail and road travel severely disrupted due to fallen trees and debris.
Some residents in and around Cullen, Dufftown, Fochabers, Huntly and Rothes were left without power or water for several days as utility companies tried to reconnect supplies.
The action plan now agreed by councillors has four main focus areas: communications; community resilience; care for people and organisational resilience.
Ross Ferguson, Moray Council’s emergency planning officer, said: "Staff, organisations and individuals worked extremely hard to mitigate the devastating effects of Storm Arwen but there are always things for us to learn from incidents like this.
"Work has already started to better prepare our teams for future emergencies, particularly around reviewing our major incident and emergency response protocols, so we can be as prepared as possible to assist communities across Moray should future incidents occur."
Mr Ferguson added: "It’s also vital that we’re able to respond in accordance with the Civil Contingencies Act.
"Strengthening our organisation’s resilience, as well as helping communities prepare themselves, is essential to meet those obligations."
