Introduction
Somerset has a population of 529,972.
The county has one city and a small number of towns. The county of Somerset consists of a nonmetropolitan county administered by Somerset County Council. The districts of Somerset are West Somerset, South Somerset, Taunton Deane, Mendip and Sedgemoor. Over 25% of Somerset’s population is concentrated in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil. Much of the county is rural and sparsely populated.
The large scale evacuation planning in development across Somerset utilises the strengths of a mainly rural population and identifies communities who are prepared to care for groups of evacuees in village halls and other locations.
This Plan recognises and reflects that planning. However this plan details tactical and operational evacuation arrangements for the major towns in Somerset. Including town centre evacuation plans as required. An evacuation can involve anything from one person up to hundreds or in extreme cases, thousands. Whilst the level and type of response will vary according to the number of people and size of area evacuated, the principles of planning and response are applicable across the full range of evacuations.
Aim of this Plan
The aim of this plan is to identify an effective, coordinated multi agency response to a request for evacuation of any of the major towns in Somerset.
- Determine the demography of each town and how this might
assist or contribute to the planning for an evacuation - Consider key infrastructure relevant to each town and how this
contributes to a risk assessment for evacuation. - Confirm the command and control structure for evacuation
- Identify the roles and responsibilities of each organisation in the
event of an evacuation - Identify the timeline and trigger for evacuation
- Identify communication methods and how this will assist
evacuation. - Identify key locations to assist the movement of evacuees to a
safe place - Identify options for traffic and transport of evacuees
- Provide information to assist any evacuation scenario within
Somerset
Download the full PDF of the Evacuation Plan
