Safety
What the bureau would tell you
before a storm.
The same advice the duty desk gives on the phone, written down once. Fictional, plain, and the same in every valley that has weather.
Before
Four steps, in order
Read the bulletin, not the rumour
When a watch is issued, the bulletin names the hour it stands until. Real forecasts come from your national service; this page is the idea of one.
Do the ten-minute round
Loose yard items, the trampoline, the spare door. Anything the wind can lift wants indoors or tying down. The dam path closes at the first gale warning.
Fill the two jars
Water and something that does not need cooking. The old vale advice is two jars and a torch with fresh batteries, and it has never been improved on.
Decide where you'll be
One room, away from windows, decided before the noise starts. Everyone in the house should be able to name the room without asking.
During
The checklist
- Stay off the roads once the warning names your hour.
- Keep the radio or a charged phone by you, not in another room.
- Let the kettle stay warm; the keepers' rule is hot drinks keep judgment warm.
- If the lights flicker twice, unplug the sensitive things the first time.
- Do not walk the dam path in a gale. Not once. The rail is not a handrail.
- Do not photograph the sea over the Brace sea wall. The keepers will.
- Do not re-light a pilot flame you cannot smell gas near.
After
The morning round
Wait for the all-clear bulletin before the big clean-up. Then walk your ground slowly: branches over the gauge, fencing over the path, tiles where tiles should be.
If you are a co-op observer, read as usual and note the storm in the margin. The margins after a storm are the pages historians read first.
This is a fictional guidance page. For real emergencies, follow the advice of your national weather service and local authorities.