Copart UK’s Surge Management Team Supports Severe Flooding in Germany

by | Aug 2, 2021

With unexpected extreme weather hitting Europe, Copart UK’s Surge Management Team has headed over to Copart Germany to provide expertise and support in the aftermath of severe flooding across the country.

Copart UK has a well-established emergency response strategy in place alongside market-leading technology, which enables us to rapidly recover and handle large volumes of vehicles following flooding or other extreme weather incidents. 

Our specialist Surge Management Team is always on standby for such incidents, ready and prepared to be deployed to the affected areas at short notice. They use a wide range of mobile technology solutions, giving them the ability to assess, image, and process vehicles on-site.

Following severe flooding incidents across Germany, UK teammates with extensive experience in large-scale recovery operations have travelled to Copart Germany’s yard in Aachen to provide support and expertise for the huge task ahead.

After flooding in Germany, the UK Surge Management Team went over to help.

Joining forces with the Copart US CAT Team, this is set to be a truly global effort, as the recovery operation begins now that the waters have subsided to a point where vehicles can be safely evacuated and processed.

In addition to almost 300 vehicles which were submerged in water at the Aachen yard, the team will support the processing of around 6,000 flood-damaged vehicles from 8 sub-lots which have been set up to deal with these unforeseen volumes.

Copart UK is well practised at dealing with these types of extreme weather events quickly and efficiently, supported by our UK-wide transport fleet, which following significant investment over the last year has now expanded to over 400 owned and branded vehicles.

“At Copart UK we have established unique and robust emergency response services, coupled with cutting edge mobile technology for receiving and imaging large volumes of vehicles on-site. We’re glad to be able to support our global family with the  combined experience and expertise of our Surge Management Team during this very challenging period.”

Phil Briggs – Director of Operation Centres, Transport & Engineering

In 2020, our strong and unique operational capabilities enabled us to respond to an unprecedented number of flood damaged vehicles in the South-West, with an assignment of 3,000 flood damaged vehicles in just one day.

Copart UK also holds the globally recognised ISO 22301 Business Continuity Management Standard, which is designed to help businesses prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from, unexpected and disruptive incidents.

“Unfortunately, these large-scale incidents are going to become more common place as climate change continues to cause more extreme weather, and that’s why we are continually investing into strengthening our operational capabilities, transport, and technology.

Severe flooding can have a devastating effect on businesses and communities, with people who are already dealing with damage to their homes also often losing their cars too. So, we knew how important it was to provide our support to Copart Germany, so that vehicles can be collected and processed as quickly as possible to help alleviate an already stressful situation.”

Jane Pocock – Managing Director of Copart UK & Ireland