Chesil Beach is in Dorset is a shingle beach is about 14 miles long and part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. The Chiswell settlement and the southern neck of Chesil Beach have been flooded many times. Many sea defence systems and flood drainages have been built at the Portland end of the Chesil Beach to try to alleviate the over-topping and flooding problems.
In addition to sea and flood defences, the Environment Agency replaced their legacy sirens with wide area disaster warning sirens designed and made in the UK by E2S Warning Signals in London. The sirens are sited at intervals through the area.
The alarm sirens are intended to warn local residents and those on the beach and nearby towns of a real danger of flooding so that evacuation can take place. In some locations people are advised to stay indoors when they hear the siren as waves come over the beach and sweep through the town.
The location is particularly demanding due to the high background noise levels, the exposed position and the potential for risk to life. In storms, the noise of the waves, wind and moving shingle is very loud at this location.
The E2S sirens were sounded on five occasions in January and February 2014. On each sounding the equipment worked well, and was effective in that the public, who were putting their lives at risk standing on the sea wall, were seen to retreat quickly when the sirens were operated. The alarm sirens can be initiated remotely from the Environment Agency’s incident room via the web, from the agency’s look-out post in the village by radio or independently using a key at each installation. Under normal conditions, the audible distances of the A141 siren from E2S can reach over 1km, the makers say.
Neal Porter, E2S, sales and marketing director says: “Working closely with the Environment Agency we were pleased to be able to put forward a bespoke siren system to create an effective warning system that will help to save lives.” Email [email protected] or visit www.e2s.com.
