{"id":544,"date":"2026-03-05T13:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T13:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/self-help\/flood-warden-scheme"},"modified":"2026-03-06T13:22:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T13:22:51","slug":"flood-warden-scheme","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/self-help\/flood-warden-scheme","title":{"rendered":"Flood Warden Scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">When flooding occurs, local authorities and emergency services can respond to assist affected communities, but they might not be the first on the scene. There is a lot that can be done by volunteers in the community to help improve resilience to flooding before, during and after a flood event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We are establishing a Flood Warden Scheme to help train and identify volunteers in communities affected by flooding. There is training for volunteers to complete before they will be recorded as Flood Wardens by the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/floodriskmanagement\/\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">DCC Flood Risk Management team<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. They can then act as a vital link between the community and DCC and help to make their community more resilient to flooding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The role of a Flood Warden<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The Flood Warden is a voluntary role and there are no explicit responsibilities that a Flood Warden must fulfil. They should work to help make their community more resilient to flooding but will not be held responsible for any flooding that occurs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A Flood Warden can take actions before, during, and after a flood event to make their community more resilient to flooding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Before a flood:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Help their community to create or update an Emergency Plan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Identify sources of flood risk, properties and infrastructure at risk, and vulnerable people.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Monitor watercourses, culverts, and drains.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"4\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Raise awareness of the risk of flooding and help others prepare.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"5\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Promote communication channels that can be used during a flood event.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"6\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Promote self-help through actions such as Property Flood Resilience (PFR) measures, creating household flood plans and preparing a flood kit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"7\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Familiarise themselves with the roles of the relevant authorities and where to get the right information.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\"><strong>During a flood:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"8\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Enact the community emergency plan.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"9\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Provide warnings and information to the community.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"10\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Assist with cleanup or coordinate help from authorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"11\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Encourage protective measures like deploying property flood resilience equipment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"12\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Gather information about the flood and relay information from and to authorities or emergency services.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"13\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Check on vulnerable people and affected residents if safe to do so.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"14\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Stay safe. A flood warden should prioritise their own safety and not place themselves at risk. By performing the role in a safe manner, they will be of most value to their community.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>After a flood:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"15\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Assist with cleanup or coordinate help from authorities.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"16\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Collect information on who was affected and what support is needed.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"17\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Provide information on recovery to their community and those affected by the flooding.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"18\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Offer emotional and practical support and refer people to expert help.<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"19\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Review and improve the Community Emergency Plan based on lessons learned.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0Joining the Flood Warden Scheme\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Contact the DCC Flood Risk Management team by emailing\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:floodrisk@devon.gov.uk\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">floodrisk@devon.gov.uk<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and tell us that you want to get involved in the Flood Warden Scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Training<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">A Flood Warden must complete four online training courses provided by\u00a0<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Communities Prepared<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0and attend one of their online live sessions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.communitiesprepared.org.uk\/\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Communities Prepared website<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, register as a volunteer if you are an individual or as a coordinator if you are leading on this for your parish council. You must then complete the online courses:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"20\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Flood Volunteer<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"21\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What can a volunteer do to help?<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"22\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">What happens during an emergency?<\/span><\/li>\n<li data-aria-posinset=\"23\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Emergency recovery<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Let us know you have completed the courses, and we will contact you with the next steps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0<\/span><strong>Support for Flood Wardens<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We will provide you with a detailed role profile of the activities that you might carry out as part of the role. The Flood Risk Management team can provide ongoing advice on how to carry out the role and answer any questions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">We can assist you in creating a Community Emergency Plan through the\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devoncommunities.org.uk\/grant-funding-emergency-flood-resilience\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Devon Community Resilience Forum.<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0This provides some funding to help get the plan written and buy some equipment that is needed for the plan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">The training for the course is provided for free by Communities Prepared.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Once you are trained and registered as a Flood Warden, DCC Flood Risk Management team will add you to our register of Flood Wardens. You can contact our team on our email address\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"mailto:floodrisk@devon.gov.uk\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">floodrisk@devon.gov.uk<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0to ask for any advice related to the role. During or after a flood event you can contact us to provide us with any information that you have gathered.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>\u00a0Insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For the Flood Warden scheme, DCC does not provide public liability insurance for this voluntary work. The Flood Warden scheme is mostly based on communicating, gathering information, and carrying out an Emergency Plan. Any practical work that is needed on the highway should be carried out by a Road Warden rather than a Flood Warden. Public liability insurance is provided to the Road Warden scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Road Wardens\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Flood Wardens and Road Wardens are different roles. You can become a Flood Warden to help make your community more resilient to flooding without also being a Road Warden, although the roles can support each other and be held by the same person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Creating an Emergency Plan\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">You can visit the Devon Communities Together website:\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.devoncommunities.org.uk\/grant-funding-emergency-flood-resilience\" rel=\"noopener\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">https:\/\/www.devoncommunities.org.uk\/grant-funding-emergency-flood-resilience.<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0From there you can apply to the grant scheme to get support with preparing a Community Emergency Plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When flooding occurs, local authorities and emergency services can respond to assist affected communities, but they might not be the first on the scene. There is a lot that can be done by volunteers in the community to help improve resilience to flooding before, during and after a flood event.\u00a0 We are establishing a Flood [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2961,"featured_media":0,"parent":421,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-544","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 14:15:42","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2961"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":616,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/544\/revisions\/616"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/devonhighways\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}