defence

On a flood defence closure, we close much later in the tidal cycle, because we just want to stop the danger element of the tide going up into Central London.

A part of me, that dates back to a defence mechanism of childhood, needs to put some walls between us because proximity feels at some level odd and frightening.

There will be warning signs and plenty of time to evacuate folks, but if it's the big one, the government's civil defence evacuation plans describe the entire National Park as an area where people "are unlikely to survive".