FLOOD plans have been drawn up to respond to torrential rainfall over Southend.

The Southend Flood Partnership, made up of the council, Anglian Water and the Environment Agency, have put extra staff on call and resources at the ready after the Met Office issued an amber severe weather warning.

The warning has been issued between the hours of 4pm and 9pm today, with a previous yellow warning extending throughout the evening and tomorrow morning.

The council has responded by making more gel bags available for properties at risk of flooding, rehearsing plans with the fire service and preparing road closures.

Public protection councillor Martin Terry said: “Although the risk of severe weather appears to be waning, we take Met Office alerts seriously and are ready to respond if torrential rain does occur.

“Since flooding two years ago, we have continued to develop our flood response, such as increasing the numbers of staff on call-out in case of emergencies, buying in more flood response supplies and improving our working with emergency services.

“We’ve also continued to ensure that the drains and gullies in our ownership are working properly and routinely cleared.”

The council’s flood response includes providing new gullies and connections at The Ridgeway, Highlands Boulevard, Campfield Road, Northumberland Crescent and Chalkwell Esplanade, as well as replacing and repairing a number of gullies and extending drainage installations at City Beach.

Surveys of 111 flood-hit homes have also been taken for flood-mitigation measures.

However, these will not begin to be installed until next week.

Anglian Water has arranged extra manpower today and tomorrow, set up extra pumps at Chalkwell, Marine Parade and Eastern Esplanade and checked for debris in sewer filter screens.

Anyone who is flooded can call Floodline for advice on 0345 988 1188.

Further guidance is available gov.uk/prepare-for-a-flood