Cornwall MP backs campaign to prepare households for emergencies
The Government's ‘Be Ready’ campaign aims to help households across the UK prepare for emergencies
As winter approaches, the UK Government has launched the ‘Be Ready’ campaign to help people prepare for emergencies.
Jayne Kirkham, MP for Truro and Falmouth, has welcomed the campaign, highlighting its relevance following recent storms Austen and Goretti, which both disrupted power supplies in Cornwall due to falling trees damaging power cables.
Households are advised to have three days worth of essentials, including non-perishable food, bottled water, a torch, a battery-powered radio, a basic first aid kit and warm blankets.
The campaign also suggests taking note of essential contact details such as your GP, agreeing on a meeting point with close contacts, and registering for the Priority Services Register (PSR) to make sure you can get support from utility providers during outages.
Jayne Kirkham emphasised the importance of following these steps.
“Storms and floods really impact communities across Cornwall," she said.
"We’ve just been hit by Storm Austen, and there’s been another swathe of power cuts across the region after strong gusts have pulled trees onto power cables.
“As we know from Storm Goretti, it is so important that vulnerable people can be located and supported as quickly as possible, so water, food, medication and anything else that is needed can be provided quickly."
She added that many local parish and town councils in Cornwall are also making Emergency Plans to identify safe spaces and store necessary supplies for community action during future storms.
Ms Kirkham is also pushing for a more stable and reliable mobile network backup is needed so people are not left without when broadband services are disrupted.
This campaign comes on top of £1.4bn investment in flood defences this year alone, alongside substantial funding aimed at improving rail and road infrastructure and tackling climate change through clean energy.