 Power Outages While power outages may occur at any time of the year. In the summer months, they typically occur as a result of inadequate power supply or unexpected power plant shutdowns. In the winter months, high winds and ice storms play havoc on power lines and its not uncommon to have power outages due to interruptions in the transmission lines. Besides being annoying, power outages can have severe effects upon food storage and the ability to adequately cool ourselves. Additionally, it is often difficult to determine the length of a power outage which is why it is important to maintain some form of radio communication with the Emergency Alert System. How you handle a power outage will depend greatly on the anticipated duration of the outage. To assist you with your power outagae emergency preparedness planning, review the following information Disaster and Emergency Preparedness page for family, business and pets/animal preparedness guidelines. The whole of New Your City was dark as the setting sun painted one building. Terminology Familiarize yourself with these terms to better understand power outages. * Power Outage - Is the loss of the electricity supply to an area. A power outage may also be known as power cut, power failure or power loss, and be the result of a defect in a power station, damage to a power line, or the deliberate management of a power grid to balance available power. Power outages may take one of three forms: blackout, brownout or dropout. * Blackout - When power is lost completely in a specific area. * Rolling Blackout - A controlled way of rotating available power generating capacity between various districts or customers, in order to avoid total wide area blackouts. * Brownout - When the voltage level is below the normal minimum level specified for the electrical system. This may be done intentionally to prevent a full power outage. * Dropout - When the loss of power is only momentary (milliseconds to seconds). Prior to a Power Outage: * Keep a Emergency solutions Survival Kit in your home with essential survival supplies including food and water. * If you have space in your refrigerator or freezer, consider filling plastic containers with water. Remember to leave about an inch of space inside each container you put in the freezer (as water expands as it freezes). Place the containers in the refrigerator and freezer. This chilled or frozen water will help keep food cold if the power goes out. * If you use medication that requires refrigeration, have a small ice chest available to keep the medication cold. * Keep computer files and operating systems backed up regularly. Consider buying extra batteries and a power converter if you use a laptop computer. A power converter allows most laptops (12 volts or less) to be operated from the cigarette lighter of a vehicle. * Get a high quality surge protector for all of your computer equipment with enough receptacles for all your plug-ins. * If your computer is critical (such as for a home business) consider buying an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). * If you have an electric garage door opener, find out where the manual release lever is located and learn how it operates. If you regularly use the garage as the primary means of entering your home, be sure to keep a key to your house with you, in case the garage door will not open. * If you have a telephone at home that requires electricity to operate (such as a cordless phone or answering machine), consider getting a cellular phone or pager. * Ensure you have some form of alarm clock that is not dependent on electricity or a radio/alarm with battery backup. * Listen to your battery powered radio, television or NOAA Weather Radio for outage information. * Keep your car fuel tank at least half full because gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps. * Practice energy conservation measures to keep the use of electricity as low as possible, which can help power companies avoid imposing rolling blackouts during periods of extreme heat. During a Power Outage: * Turn off all major appliances like the TV and computer to prevent power surge damage when the power comes back on. Considering leaving one light switch on to alert you when the power is restored. * Listen to your battery powered radio, television or NOAA Weather Radio for outage information. * Rearrange the contents of your refrigerator to group items closer together and eliminate air space between items to promote prolonged cooling. * If the outage appears to be a lengthy one (more typical in hurricane or ice storms) try and eat your perishable food items first, then food from the freezer, and then canned or packaged goods with a long shelf-life. * Do not open the refrigerator or freezer unless necessary. In general, if perishable contents in your refrigerator get above 40 F, throw them out to prevent food related illnesses. * Carefully consider the use of candles. Open flames are very dangerous and proper care must be taken to secure the candles in place and ensure they will not tip over or ignite nearby materials. * If you use a generator, keep it outdoors -- never operate it inside, including the basement or garage. Do not hook a generator directly to your home's electrical panel. The safest thing to do is to connect the equipment you want to power directly to the outlets on the generator. | 
