Extending our Flood Warning Service to an extra 14,000 homes

What: We are sending text messages to around 14,000 people to tell them that they have been automatically added to the flood warning service. The service is free, and customers can go on to choose to receive warnings in English or Welsh.

Where: We will be sending text messages to addresses in flood warning areas across Wales.

When: The messages will be sent on 4 December 2019 (weather permitting).

Why: The messages will inform people that they have been automatically registered for flood warnings and will include a link to a page on the Natural Resources Wales website which will provide them with the Floodline number should they want to fully register to the service. They can also choose to opt-out of the service by replying to the text message.

How: Around 14,000 automated text messages will be sent through the Flood Warning System.

Background

Since 2010, Natural Resources Wales has worked in partnership with the Environment Agency to access and automatically register landline and mobile phone numbers, in areas at a high risk of flooding, onto our free flood warning system. We can securely obtain information relating to the registered address for landlines and mobile devices under an agreement backed by the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 (CCA). This work has resulted in 70,000 addresses that hadn’t previously signed up to our service now receiving direct flood warnings.

Vodafone mobile customers will receive relevant flood warning and severe flood warning messages for their billing address from 4 December 2019 – weather permitting. This will enable us to send direct warnings to an estimated 14,000 additional properties in Wales.

Schedule for adding Vodafone customers

On 4 December we will send text messages to 14,000 Vodafone customers to tell them that their phone number has been added to our free flood warning service. The text messages will be sent through our Flood Warning System to Vodafone customers with a billing address in our Flood Warning areas.

On the day we will check the weather conditions and will not proceed if any bad weather is forecast or any flood warnings are issued. Due to the large number of messages that need to be sent we may need to amend the schedule at short notice in order to send the text messages out as quickly as possible.

Message Content

We will be sending one bilingual text message to each customer to inform them that they are now registered to the service. The message will provide a link to our website for more information and allows the customer to reply with a text message to opt out of the service.

Helo gan Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru. Rydych yn byw mewn ardal perygl llifogydd. Byddwn yn cysylltu â’r rhif hwn os bydd rhybudd llifogydd yn eich ardal, am ddim. Hello from Natural Resources Wales. You live in a flood risk area. We’ll contact this number if there’s a flood warning in your area, for free. Gwybodaeth & Preifatrwydd /Info & Privacy: www.cyfoethnaturiol.cymru/warning Optio allan: tecstiwch DILEU i 60006. To opt out: text REMOVE to 60006

Customers who choose not to opt out of the service will receive a phone call each time a Flood Warning or Severe Flood Warning is issued for their billing address. This will be in English language only. If they visit our web page, customers will be encouraged to fully register to the service so that they can state their language preference and receive warnings by SMS and email.

More Information

For more information please contact:

Lucy Edwards

Specialist Advisor, Flood Warning and Informing

Lucy.Edwards@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk