On 17 September 2024, the Moselle Fire and Rescue Service organized a departmental exercise on the theme of flash flooding.
The Scenario
The chosen scenario involved a malfunction at the Saint-Louis / Arzviller inclined plane. Large quantities of water were escaping from the upper reach and threatening numerous homes in the Zorn Valley downstream.
An operation headquarters
The Prefecture designed the exercise with highly trained staff.
There for an operation centre at the fire service headquarters as well as a command post close to the incident site were set up.
For best coordination of the scenario an operational command post manged by the very Prefecture was set up as well.
The exercise mobilized around fifty fire service officers, staff from external public agencies involved in such incidents (Voies Navigables de France, Departmental Directorate of Territories, etc.), elected officials, as well as representatives from the local Prefecture.
Learnings from the exercise
This was an opportunity to work on the fundamentals of major crisis management, to strengthen inter-agency coordination, and to anticipate precautionary measures.
Flash Flood Exercise