!Tornado
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agk's diary
11 December 2021 @ 05:23
---
written on Pinebook Pro
while Evy leaves for work
---
We're hunkered in the bathroom. It's hot from our
bodies. We have water, snacks, a lantern, documents,
and blankets. The CSEPP air raid klaxons sounded
again. The loudspeakers thundered a warning again.
We got another alert on our phones:
> An additional tornado warning was just issued for
> all of Madison County. Please go to the nearest
> designated shelter immediately.
Power flickering but remains on. Baby's squalling.
I think my head's on roommate's foot. Evy called
central staffing at the hospital to ask what to do.
The lady said weather isn't an excused absence,
same as the snow policy.
Evy went PRN when the baby was born. PRNs aren't
allowed unexcused absences. She tried to impress
the situation on the lady: "We're sheltering in
place right now. Tornados follow roadways. I'm
afraid to spend an hour on the interstate before
the warning is downgraded to a watch."
The lady repeated the policy. Our inconsolable baby
spit up. "I have a baby, ma'am," Evy pleaded.
Before she left the bathroom to drive to work, Evy
said, "If I die, take care of the baby." I said
"Fuck them. You'll be ok. If you see a funnel, pull
over and get in the ditch. You can't outrun it."
According to NOAA radar, thunderstorms spawning
tornados are coming from Danville, heading north-
east, same way Evy's going. I don't see why they
can't ask night staff for volunteers to stay an
hour during lethal weather. Doesn't make you feel
particularly essential.
---
Update
---
Thirty minutes after Evy left for work the tornado
system petered out 20 miles west of us. Three hundred
miles west, workers at the Mayfield candle factory
asked, like Evy, to delay coming to work or leave
early. Like Evy, management threatened to fire them
for unexcused absence. The plant collapsed on 110
workers. Evy found out and emailed her union rep. No
one should be bullied into working in potentially
fatal conditions other than conditions they collect-
ively agree are inseperable from the job.
