Be Prepared and Safe
Our region can produce some extreme weather conditions, regardless of the season. Be prepared with these tips.
Items to Have On-Hand
- Water: At least one gallon per person, per day plus some for pets
- Food: Non-perishable, especially items that don’t require cooking along with a hand-operated can opener
- Lighting: Flashlights, candles and matches
- Telephone: Cordless phones won’t work during an outage, so have a corded phone available. Make sure cell phones are fully charged if outages are possible
- Communications: Have your mobile devices fully charged if outages are imminent so you can stay in the know. A battery-powered radio is also helpful
- Medical: First-aid kit ready with any needed medical supplies, and filled prescriptions
- Personal sanitation: Moist wipes, hand sanitizer and garbage bags
- Tools: Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
- Batteries
- Battery-powered or wind-up clock
- Extra blankets
During a Power Outage
- Stay away from downed power lines and warn others to do the same. Call us immediately to report downed power lines.
- Don’t touch a person or object that is in contact with a power line; the electric current could flow through you.
- Stay inside your car if it comes in contact with a power line.
- Turn off all appliances during an outage to avoid a circuit overload when power is restored. Leave on one lamp to know when power is restored.
- Never leave burning candles unattended.
- Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed. Food will stay frozen for 36 to 48 hours in a fully-loaded freezer, and about 24 hours in a partially-filled freezer.