Launch of joint European cross border response to flood disasters
The UK, Ireland and Sweden have teamed up to launch the EU FloodCommand project, which will promote the innovative use of search and rescue (SAR) resources when dealing with major costal inundation, caused by extreme weather events such as tsunamis and tidal surges. The idea behind the project funded by the European Commission's DG Environment is to share information and develop systems and protocols to allow the trio of countries to cooperate more effectively in case of a maritime emergency. In the long term, the objective will be to create a European Maritime SAR Response Module which would improve the capacity, speed and effectiveness of dealing with disasters. Although only three nations are involved in the pilot project for now, it is hoped that other European maritime countries will sign up to join the scheme. As extreme weather events will only become more frequent and severe in the future, European authorities are already taking action. Venice is building up its defences and the Netherlands is rethinking its famous seawalls. 'This is an excellent opportunity to enhance cross border cooperation significantly in response to major flooding events and the MCA looks forward to co-operating with our Swedish and Irish partners in the project.' said John Astbury, chief executive of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
Countries
Ireland, Sweden, United Kingdom