Hurricane season and seasonal storms can sometimes cause damage to the power system that supplies electricity to our customers. This damage may leave customers without electricity, and although we do our best to restore power quickly, there are some times when power is out longer than we’d like. To help you during an outage, before the storm arrives, you should:
Make sure you have fresh batteries which are ready to use in flashlights and radios.
Store drinking water in extra bottles or plastic containers.
Stock up on food that doesn’t need refrigeration and make sure you have a manual can opener.
Have extra blankets ready during the colder months.
Make sure that you have medical supplies and prescriptions on hand.
Trim the trees and bushes around your electrical service if you have enough time.
If you have life sustaining equipment, make sure the batteries in the backup system are fully charged.
If a hurricane is heading our way, take these extra precautions:
Secure objects outside the home which could become airborne by heavy winds.
Tape, board or shutter windows and glass doors.
Fill a cooler with ice for food you can use in the first few hours of the storm.
Know the areas of your home that will be the safest as you ride out the storm.
Generator safety:
If you have a back-up generator, make sure you know how to use it before you have to!
Turn the main switch on the electrical panel to the OFF position.
Don’t attempt to wire your household electrical system into the generator. Doing so could feed electricity back into the lines, causing a dangerous situation to WMGLD line crews working on the power lines.
If direct wiring into the generator is necessary, use a licensed electrician to do this work.
