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Severe Weather 2011/12 Briefing Note: v2.0 Issued: 08/12/2011 13:24 By: Val Millar, Communications and Marketing Manager Ext.441098 Please find below a summary of the impact the severe weather has had on council services today. The red alert is now covering more of Fife than was anticipated by the Met Office last night. At this stage the Forth and Tay Bridges are both closed to all vehicles. These closures are currently causing significant disruption. Current advice from Fife Police is that people should postpone their journey wherever possible, or make alternative arrangements. There are also a number of fallen trees on or near roads, particularly in West Fife, so extra caution is required. Education

186 schools closed at lunchtime today - between 12 noon and 1pm.

High School prelims arranged for this afternoon have been cancelled. They will rescheduled by the school in due course.

Other school activities planned for this afternoon or tonight will also be rearranged by the schools as required.

The Madras Public Consultation planned for this evening and associated

events at Tayport PS and St Andrews Town Hall, and the Headteacher's Briefing scheduled for this afternoon at St Columba's Primary School in Cupar have all been cancelled.

School catering services are were still provided and on a flexible basis.

The Catering Service liaised with individual schools to check requirements and some pack lunches were provided.

Cleaning services are being prioritised, and staff are working different shifts to accommodate an earlier finishing time where this is necessary.

Parents/parents are contacting schools directly for any other specific school closure information.

School to home transport for the lunchtime pick-ups presented significant logistical issues. Double-decker buses could not be used due high winds and every effort was made to pick pupils up using alternative arrangements including the use of single-decker buses.

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Social Work

Social Work Services are making arrangements to ensure those in greatest need have their needs met and will respond to emergencies.

Priority visits will be made and non priority visits will be re-scheduled as appropriate. Any immediate issues arising throughout the day will be addressed.

The following services are operating as normal, with monitoring throughout the day:

- Home Care - Meals on Wheels - Criminal Justice - Fife and Matrix - Social Work offices

The following other Social Work Services are affected:

Older People Day Care Services The following Day Care Centre are CLOSED due to severe weather: - Rosyth Resource Centre, Rosyth - Ladywalk House, Anstruther - Leng Resource Centre, Newport on Tay - St David’s Centre, St Andrews - Raith Gates Centre, Kirkcaldy

The following Day Centres will close after lunchtime today. - Mathew Fyfe, Dunfermline - Jean Mackie Centre, - Valley House, Cowdenbeath - Jenny Gray, Lochgelly - South Parks, Glenrothes - Alan McLure, Glenrothes - Methilhaven, Buckhaven - Northeden, Cupar

Adult Services Day Care All day centres will close after lunchtime today. - Dalgairn Centre, Cupar - Robert Gough, Leven - Grange Centre, Dunfermline - Viewforth, Kirkcaldy and St Clare Centre, Kirkcaldy

Transport for both Older People and Adult Services service users is arranged to ensure they return home safely.

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Bins and Recycling Centres

All bin collections have been cancelled and recycling centres are closed.

All householders are being asked to bring their bins in as soon as possible to prevent them blowing over in the high winds. All bins should be put out again tomorrow morning.

As a result, there will be some disruption to bin collections over the next few days as the teams catch up.

Transportation

As of late this morning there were two roads and one footpath closed. - C45 Pitscottie to Dairsie (Dura Den Road): blocked due to flooding - C50 Auchmuir Bridge to Ballingry: closed due to lorry coming off the

road (not weather-related) - Fullerton Road underpass, Glenrothes: closed due to flooding

For the most up-to-date closure information please check online at www.fifedirect.org.uk

Tower wagons/cherry pickers are off the road so no street lighting lamp replacement works today.

All fixed construction sites have been closed down. Staff have been given other duties related to severe weather and/or flooding. For example staff are checking watercourse grids and making sure these are clear.

Contact Centre

Higher call volumes were anticipated yesterday and staffing was increased to ensure the service could respond. The contact centre workforce was increased by two-thirds today.

Calls to the Faults & Repairs, Social Work, General Enquiries, Dial-a-Ride and Environmental services have been the busiest.

Communications

Communications began at 2.30am when the decision to close schools was taken. The first communications was through Twitter and Facebook.

Over 31500 texts and 16500 e-mails were dispatched to registered users from 4am.

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News alerts and releases were issued at 3.30am, 8.30am and 1.15pm. The last release outlining the impact on all key services.

Information was posted online through FifeDirect, FISH and through DigitTV.

The Council Emergency Support Line, and Contact Centre were briefed and information was posted on FifeDirect.

Advice has been issued to managers and employees.

Information has been coordinated across council services through the

Severe Weather Action Group and, with other public sector partners including Fife Police, NHS Fife and the Scottish Government media and resilience teams.

The council’s main communication channels have been consistently promoted:

www.fifedirect.org.uk/closures and you can register here for a range of

text and e-mail alerts.

m.fifedirect.org.uk

www.facebook.com/fifecouncil

and www.twitter.com/fifecouncil

Kingdom FM - 95.2 & 96.1

Radio Forth - 97.3

Tay FM - 96.4 & 102.8

Sky - channel 539, press red button

Virgin - press home, select interactive

08451 55 00 11 faults & repairs

08451 55 00 99 out of hours