When significant events or incidents occur, often a multi-agency response will be activated in order to deal with what has happened.
This was the case when Storm Arwen badly affected the north-east and further afield, at the end of November.
The Grampian Local Resilience Partnership is made up of representatives from agencies including the emergency services, local authorities, utilities and health and social care and it is the group’s role to coordinate the response to major incidents.
In response to Storm Arwen, more than 30 organisations met around the virtual table to support communities across the north-east.
The group convened on the Friday morning when it became clear that Storm Arwen was likely to bring severe weather to the region and a significant logistical operation would be required.
A crucial part of the LRP’s response to a major incident, such as extreme weather, is to identify vulnerable people and to ensure that help is given to those in need.
With tens of thousands of people left without power after the storm, identifying and contacting vulnerable people was a priority and dozens of staff from all agencies and volunteers were deployed in affected communities to provide help and support.
Additionally, rest centres and food vans were established in order to provide those without power with shelter and hot food.
The scale of the damage from Storm Arwen was unprecedented and the repairs needed were complex.
SSEN and Scottish Water engineers worked day and night, in what was an extraordinary set of circumstances, to restore power to those affected and military support was also provided to assist with the humanitarian response.
As ever when faced with a challenge, the communities in the north-east rallied around each other to help and there were numerous examples of kindness and selflessness in the face of real difficulties.
This also included support to police officers responding to incidents and we are grateful to everyone who helped, from providing torches and cutting back or moving fallen trees.
We recognise how challenging it was for people affected by Storm Arwen, and indeed Storm Barra that followed shortly after.
The role of the Local Resilience Partnership doesn’t stop once the immediate response is over, particularly following a major incident such as Storm Arwen.
The partnership is continuing to meet and coordinate the recovery efforts to ensure communities can move back to normality as quickly as possible.
If you are concerned about the impacts of extreme weather events, I would encourage you to visit the Ready Scotland website which has lots of tips on how to prepare and stay safe.
Consider things like keeping a supply of essential food and bottled water as well as a fully charged battery-operated radio.
You may also wish to register on the Priority Services Register, which provides extra help during power cuts or when there is an interruption to your water supply.
Lastly, our thoughts remain with the family and friends of David Lapage who tragically died during the height of Storm Arwen.
