Lancashire and Cumbria residents may be getting a text message from the Environment Agency on Monday (8 October) to let them know they have been automatically registered for free flood warnings.
People on the Three mobile network who live in areas at high risk of flooding across the counties will receive an automated text message informing them that they have been signed up, with a link to let them know what they should do if they receive a flood warning, and the option to opt out.
760 messages will be sent to Cumbria residents and 7,971 will be sent to Lancashire residents. Once registered, people will receive a message directly to their mobile if a flood warning is issued for their area in the future – giving them vital time to prepare.
Stewart Mounsey, Environment Agency Flood Risk Manager, said: “Being registered for flood warnings can give people advance notice of flooding and some crucial time to prepare. If you get the text, it is because you live in an area at risk of flooding, so we would urge people to stay registered to the service and learn what to do if you receive a warning by viewing a free flood guide at https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/what-to-do-in-a-flood.”
During the week beginning 8 October, the Environment Agency will be registering around 350,000 people across England on the Three mobile network to its flood warning service. It has been automatically adding those who live in high flood risk areas to the flood warning service since 2010, beginning with BT landlines and then moving to provide warnings to mobile phones in 2014, with the EE network, and more recently O2. The agency plans to add customers on Vodafone network in due course.
People who are not on the Three network can still receive free flood warnings –visit https://flood-warning-information.service.gov.uk/plan-ahead-for-flooding to check if your home is at risk of flooding and sign up for free flood warnings.
