Preparing for emergencies

Emergencies

Emergencies and disasters can happen at any time. A major fire or flood, severe weather like heavy snow or a heatwave, or prolonged power or water cuts could affect Harrow's residents and businesses.

Basic services including water, electricity and gas could be lost or severely affected.

Events can also result in damage or threat of damage to homes and businesses where evacuation may be needed or, conversely, people may be required to remain indoors for an extended period of time.

Emergency Planning

The Council has a legal duty under the terms of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 to provide and maintain robust and resilient contingency plans.

Emergency planning is the general term for the work that the government, the emergency services, the health services and the local authority all do in preparing the contingency plans and procedures for dealing with any emergency that might affect large numbers of people.

Harrow Council has a small team of staff dedicated to preparing plans for Harrow and ensuring that the council meets their duties under the 2004 Act and other legislation.

Harrow is part of the larger West London Local Resilience Forum, made up of a group of agencies all of which have involvement during an incident i.e. Metropolitan Police, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and volunteer agencies such as the British Red Cross. This group works together to share information and gain consistency in emergency response. The Council's Emergency Planning Team also helps in the planning for London-wide and national emergencies.

Always call the emergency services on 999 to report an emergency.