Emergency workers to get radios

Ships in the harbour sat much higher than normal

Front-line council workers dealing with environmental emergencies are to be issued with radio sets.

Great Yarmouth Borough Council said information and advice broadcast by BBC Radio Norfolk on the night of a surge tide in November helped their strategy.

The council has prepared a "lessons learned" report, which is due to go on public consultation.

As a result of the review, the council said it had increased its sandbag provision from 30,000 to 40,000.

Mark Burns, who is responsible for emergency planning in Great Yarmouth, said he had joked that local radio should be "in on the act" with the crews responding to major emergencies.

He said: "That was one of our lessons learned, the use of local media of getting information out and getting information back in.

"As a result we are going to be giving out radios for all our staff in their patch."

Similar reports have been prepared by Norfolk County Council and Norfolk Police, but Mr Burns said he wanted a separate evaluation for the borough.

Levels on the River Yare reached the bottom of the Haven Bridge

He added: "I think the other big area we would like feedback on is evacuation and shelter, and how people who stayed in the rest centres found things.

"We've had many positive letters in of support, but we also want to hear if there are any things that we could improve.

"In particular, we want to hear people's views about flood sirens, because we believe that things went very well and that it would have been inappropriate to have sounded the flood sirens."