Waterworld exercises taking place across our region

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) will be conducting flooding and water rescue activities across the region from Tuesday 24 October to Thursday 26 October 2023. These activities will provide vital training to employees and partnership organisations in the event of widespread flooding in the area.

This exercise was pre-planned, before the red weather warning in place for several areas of the UK over the weekend.

The multi-agency exercise will be the first to involve The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), who will be working alongside other organisations and Fire and Rescue Services.

Members of the public should be aware that many of the rescue activities will involve dummies and live ‘casualties’, who are volunteers, and will be assisting in the water. If you are at any of the locations listed below during the week, please be assured that these people are in safe hands.

Training exercises involve missing people in the water, mud rescues, boat rescues, and a vehicle in the water. Responses will involve boat rescues, swimmers, bank rescues and searches.

The list of locations for these training events is as follows:

• Tuesday 24^th October –Chepstow Racecourse
• Wednesday 25^th and Thursday 26^th October – training scenarios at Ogmore by Sea, the River Usk in Newport, Parc Bryn Bach, Cardiff International White-Water Centre, River Wye near Tintern Abbey, the River Taff close to Radyr weir and Skenfrith.

Station Commander Darren Cleaves said,

“This exercise was pre-planned before the red weather warning in place for several areas of the UK over the weekend, and couldn’t be more timely. Our Joint Fire Control took around 70 calls for other Services between Friday and Saturday morning, and this exercise will involve different Fire and Rescue Services working together on best practice flooding responses – so there’s a lot that we will learn from each other.”