Opinion: Council has questions to answer over communication failure during flooding

Inside Number One Riverside the day after the flood

Scores of council staff voluntarily gave up unpaid days off over Christmas to assist with the flood relief effort. They, along with many others, did a magnificent job. However, council bosses failure to ensure vital communication services were able to operate as the floods ravaged the borough leaves questions to be answered.

Communication is essential in times of crisis and Rochdale Borough Council's failure in communication on Boxing Day left many residents and business owners frustrated.

The council's servers, located at Number One Riverside, were switched off when flood water began to enter the £50million building and in doing so shut down the council website and email system. Hence, those affected desperately seeking information on the council website, or emailing for help as the flood waters rose, were met with an information blackout.

Asked is there not a contingency plan or backup in place, thereby ensuring council communication channels remained accessible to residents and businesses when they were most needed, Head of Communications at the Council, Danny Brierley, said: "There is a contingency plan for when this happens that involves switching to a back-up server. However, enacting the contingency plan can lead to longer delays in returning to a normal service.”

A response that begs the question what is the point of having a contingency plan if when it is needed it is not enacted or is not up to the job?

Residents and business owners need reassurance that the contingency plan will be reassessed and an effective back up put in place.