Returning to the area this week, neighbours tell me that as many as 40 people may have been killed.  Delphine, whose parents live in Draguignan centre of the flash flooding, told us of a young woman whose baby was washed from her arms as she waded through the water. The body hasn’t been found.

It’s not clear to me whether local communities in this part of France were given adequate warning of the extreme conditions that led to this catastrophic event.  The weather forecast was bad and the Meteo declared an amber warning.  But the local english language radio station gave no indication of what was to come and I’ve heard no suggestion that other radio services were any better. But I do know that British holidaymakers are unlikely to have been listening to local radio services or reading the local papers. A timely reminder for me that our emergency communications strategies need to have imaginative plans in place for warning tne so-called hard-to-reach groups.

However, the IPCC  investigation concludes “there is no evidence of any criminal offence being committed by police officers, and no grounds for bringing misconduct proceedings.”  A report on the BBC’s regional news has suggested that despite the IPCC verdict, the “victim” may now bring a civil action against the police for assault, yet for the time being the police appear to be in the clear.  But are they?

The original video is still up on YouTube and there’s at least one mash-up which appears to show a police officer repeatedly punching the man on the ground. The presence of this stuff on YouTube continues to harm the reputation of Nottinghamshire police. So what are the lessons?

Police and others need to be more aware that their actions are increasingly likely to be recorded whenever they appear in public.
Those responsible for police communications need to be monitoring social media as well as conventional media.
The initial communications response needs to be timely and robust.

What steps are Notts police  taking to get this clip removed?

http://independentreview.eurostar.com/

Having been critical of the company’s initial response to the breakdowns at Christmas and their poor communications, it’s clear the lessons are now being learned. His piece to camera is rather dull, but the messages are appropriate and timely.  I don’t know who wrote the script, but it has echoes of the YouTube mea culpa by David Neeleman, the former JetBlue boss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r_PIg7EAUw

Neeleman doesn’t say sorry, but the company had already apologised immediately after the ice storm at JFK which was the initial cause of their operating problems.  This is a personal preference, but I think Neeleman’smore relaxed style of delivery, combined with a more loosely-written script is more effective. But at least Eurostar is now on the right track!

The other thing that really got passengers’ goat (and you can’t blame them) was Eurostar’s communication skills – or rather, the lack thereof. And it seems that the report’s authors agreed with them, saying that ‘provisions of information to passengers in stations, through the call centre and via the website was not satisfactory’

The paper goes on to claim that the cost of remedial work is likely to be in the region of £30m. But what is the cost of the damage to Eurostar’s hard-won reputation? According to Rail News the timing could not be worse as Eurostar may soon face competition through the tunnel:

This has come, perhaps, at a particularly unfortunate moment. International open access became a reality on 1 January, and Deutsche Bahn is one of several possible candidates who have expressed an interest in competing with Eurostar on what had been its exclusive route to London.

Yesterday was “bin day” here in Charminster.  After the long New Year break there were piles of refuse bags heaped on the pavements awaiting collection. In mid-afternoon West Dorset District Council tweeted the news that all collections had been cancelled because of concerns about binmen’s safety on the icy pavements. I’m probably the only person in the street who uses Twitter, but no matter. Once one of us picks up the news, the rest can rely on word of mouth.  This is mundane stuff, I know, but a simple illustration in the midst of the big freeze, about the practical applications for social networking as we move towards a greater degree of community resilience. (Good work too by Wakefield Council for their “Twitter gritter” updates!)

Secondly,  how useful last weekend to pick up a Tweet from Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury during Sunday lunch. There had been an explosion; that afternoon’s matinee of the pantomime Peter Pan had been cancelled. Within a minute it was possible to grab a shot of the smoke and flames from the webcam on top of the theatre building. You still need conventional journalism to give you the context, to fill in the picture, but as a source of breaking local news Twitter is becoming a really useful tool!

Passenger’s finger-jabbing rant at man in charge

A furious passenger confronted the Eurostar boss yesterday to demand answers for the ‘dreadful’ rail service.

The drama unfolded after the operator’s chief executive, Richard Brown, visited St Pancras station to give a TV interview to boast that trains were expected to partially resume running today.

But it turned into another PR catastrophe for the company when stranded passenger Riad Ouled interrupted and called on him to explain why there had been so little information provided to travellers stuck at the station.

Towering over the diminutive railway boss, businessman Mr Ouled waved his finger and raged: ‘At least give us an answer.

‘We have not been told anything. We don’t know when we are going to get home. Hotels are getting more and more expensive. I am missing work and losing money.’

His tirade continued for two minutes before a frantic Eurostar press officer fought through gathered reporters and photographers to drag Mr Brown away.

All further interviews were conducted behind a barrier to prevent passengers embarrassing the chief executive again.

Mr Ouled, 30, arrived in London with his girlfriend Corinne Walerack, 29, on Friday for a weekend break.

The couple were due to return to Paris on Eurostar on Sunday, but were left stuck with at least 50,000 other passengers after six trains got stuck in the Channel Tunnel. After the confrontation Mr Ouled said: ‘I run my own business. I was meant to have a series of meetings and sign contracts today.

‘I am losing business because of this. I have no idea how long it will be before I get home.

‘They have not told us anything. It is a hopeless situation. Eurostar has been dreadful.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237633/Fury-100-000-Eurostar-travellers-trapped-sides-Channel.html#ixzz0aWZgDxPH