Keeping moving in the cloud
Glen Curry, Emergency Planning Officer from Birmingham Resilience Team blogs on the efforts taken to ensure disruption is kept to minimum in Birmingham.
Undoubtedly, the Icelandic volcano ash cloud has been the most significant air transport disruption the country. The effects of flights grounded have been felt far and wide, with stranded passengers both in the UK and in all areas around the world.
I received our first warning of the ash cloud late on Wednesday and couldn’t believe I was reading about a volcano! Usually when my blackberry pings in the evening it’s a severe weather warning, a flooding alert, or if it was earlier in the year the latest report on how much grit we have. Little did I know then how long this would last and how much impact this would cause. I certainly didn’t think I would have my own travel plans cancelled for the Saturday as I was due to fly to Spain for a stag party in Benidorm.
So let’s look at a couple of good news stories for Birmingham:
- The International Dance Festival in Birmingham launched as planned this week with alternative travel arrangements being made for some artists. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/?p=9376
- The European Gymnastic Championships have only suffered a 24hr delay after the Local Organising Committee spent the weekend making huge logistical plans to ensure teams from across Europe could get to Birmingham. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/?p=9390
And as the school term restarted this week, schools in Birmingham have had to be quick to react to this unprecedented situation.
- 50 school staff and five headteachers from Birmingham have been unable to return for the start of term. Bournville School and Sixth Form Centre has been most severely affected with 57 schoolchildren and eight teachers stuck on a school trip to Washington. http://birminghamnewsroom.com/?p=9389
View the latest information from Birmingham Resilience Team
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