Thursday 17 April 2008
For further information Jack Durrell
Email: JDurrell@redcross.org.uk
Contact number: 020 7877 7043
The British Red Cross welcomes Sir Michael Pitt’s call yesterday for people in the UK to take flooding and natural hazards more seriously. The call came during a speech at the Critical National Infrastructure conference, hosted by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).
In particular the Red Cross supports Sir Michael Pitt’s assertion that more has to be done to help the public to help themselves when flooding occurs. While the emergency services and other agencies will undoubtedly do all they can to protect people, the Red Cross believes that more can be done to empower individuals and communities to take practical steps to avoid risk and keep themselves safe. Communicating these steps to the public can significantly reduce damage from natural hazards such as flooding.
“We welcome Sir Michael Pitt’s call for the country to take flooding more seriously, and the need to help people protect themselves,” says Leigh Daynes, British Red Cross spokesperson. “As the UK’s largest voluntary emergency response organisation it’s our duty to provide practical advice so individuals and communities remain safe when disaster strikes. Simple steps, such as learning basic, life-saving First Aid skills, can be extremely effective in preventing unnecessary harm and suffering.”
During last year’s flooding the British Red Cross helped to run rest centres for those evacuated from their homes and delivered thousands of litres of water to people who were without supplies. The Red Cross responds to hundreds of emergencies every year in support of the emergency services, and is included in local authority emergency plans for every part of the UK.
Following the devastating floods in June and July last year the British Red Cross launched the National Floods Appeal. The £5 million raised is targeting the most vulnerable and is helping communities throughout the country recover from the damage caused.
ENDS
The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. We are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies.
We enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. And when the crisis is over, we help them to recover and move on
with their lives. | 
