I listened to a very interesting talk organised by the Emergency Planning Society, a Lunchtime Learning Session – Plymouth Unexploded Ordinance Device Incident.
A 500 kg unexploded bomb from an air raid between 28th and 29th April 1941 was found when digging out the foundations for a house extension.
The on-call emergency responder took the initial call just before 11 am and at 13.30 the Police declared a Major Incident. An initial 214 m evacuation cordon was put in place with the National mobile phone warning system used in anger for the first time and teams from multiple organisations going door to door. The zone evolved with time.
More than 4,200 properties were evacuated involving more than 10,300 people. While many made their own arrangements more than 1000 attended Rest Centres over the three days and more than 1000 calls were received on the 24/7 helpline and 73,000 hits on the website.
The bomb was later moved and destroyed at sea. The move entailed a temporary evacuation of the area either side of the route.
Of particular interest:
A few people were reluctant to leave their homes. Major concerns seemed to be about pets (RSPCA helped) although there were some health issues to manage. These all take resources to work through.
There is a reluctance to use gyms for overnight stays. Preference is to put people up in B&Bs or hotels.
The National Emergency Notifier System worked well with the message out within 30 minutes of the decision to use it. With prepared messages this could be speeded up. Unsurprisingly the system “leaks” in that the message is received beyond the intended footprint so it is important to consider the wording of the message – not “please evacuate” but “please evacuate if you are in this area”.
The council rejigged their “when are my bins emptied” website to show the intended evacuation area in detail. Which was a quick process. Well done Council GIS team.
The area followed the REPPIR process of zigzagging along streets rather than cutting through lines of houses. Good practice.
The local football ground was used as a briefing centre for the boots on the ground.
Supply of sand was successful but not needed in the end (If bomb had been detonated in-situ it would have been surrounded by sand to manage the explosion).
Vulnerable people were identified by door knockers rather than by comparison of agency lists. This was not what the plan expected.
A very interesting talk about the day in a life of a council emergency responder and a good example of multiple agencies working together well. The response would probably not have been so successful without the careful planning and exercising that takes place.
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