Community Resilience

Community resilience means communities and individuals harnessing local resources and expertise to help themselves prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies — in a way that complements, but never replaces, the work of the emergency services.

Buckie has its own Community Resilience Group — local volunteers who work with Moray Council on a community emergency plan and can be a point of contact and support for residents when things go wrong. If you would like to volunteer, get in touch with us or email communitycouncils@moray.gov.uk.

If an emergency happens

If it's not safe to go out, the standard advice is:

Go in — go indoors and close all windows and doors
Stay in — stay indoors while it's safe, and let your emergency contacts know you're OK
Tune in — local radio, TV or the internet for advice from the emergency responders

Use 999 responsibly — and check on neighbours who might need a hand.

Be Prepared

Make a Household Emergency Plan

Ten minutes around the kitchen table now can save real trouble later. Moray Council's household booklet (linked below) has a version you can fill in and keep.

1. Pick your emergency friends

Choose one or two friends or relatives you'll check in with in an emergency — and agree how you can help each other:

Swap house keys
Offer each other a place to stay if evacuated
Look after or collect each other's children
Collect medication if one of you is ill
Keep copies of each other's important documents

2. Agree safe meeting places

If you ever have to leave home — get out, stay out, and take others with you. Agree two places your household will regroup:

One near home (a neighbour's, a nearby hall)
One further away, outside the immediate area

Make sure everyone — including your emergency friends — knows both places, in case phones stop working. The Buckie Community Resilience Group can tell you if a community safe place has been identified.

3. Know your home

Learn how to turn off your supplies before you ever need to:

Gas — if you smell gas: open a window, get out, call 0800 111 999. No flames, and don't touch electrical switches
Electricity — the main switch is in your fuse box (turn it off if flooding threatens)
Water — find your stop valve (usually under the kitchen sink or where the mains enters the house)

Home emergency kit — keep it somewhere easy to reach, in a waterproof bag if possible

Bottled water Non-perishable food (incl. baby & pet food) First-aid kit & essential medicines Warm clothes & blankets Phone chargers & power bank Wind-up or battery radio Torch & spare batteries ID documents (passport, licence) Some cash Spare house & car keys Toiletries Pen & paper Copies of insurance policies Spare glasses or contact lenses

Extra support if you need it — the Priority Services Register

Utility companies keep a free register so they know who needs extra help first in an emergency — for example if you're over 60, disabled, deaf or blind, live with young children, or rely on medical equipment that needs electricity or water.

psrscotland.com → SSEN: 0800 294 3259 Scottish Water: 0800 077 8778

Stay informed

Weather — sign up for Met Office warnings or use their app
Flooding — sign up to SEPA Floodline for live flood alerts
Roads — Traffic Scotland for incidents and travel warnings
Local updates — follow Moray Council (@MorayCouncil) and our Facebook page

Useful resources

Volunteer for the Resilience Group

Community Resilience

Important numbers — save these in your phone and keep a written copy at home