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Summer heat and changing seasons bring unpredictable storms and sometimes violent weather. Don’t get caught off guard by the inevitable power outage.

With a little preparation, you can be ready for power outages and keep your family safe with these ideas:

• Use a crank or battery-operated radio and keep extra batteries.
• Have enough first aid supplies and prescription medications for three days.
• Keep at least $50 in cash in case you can’t use ATMs or banks due to power loss.
• Buy a second cell phone battery and solar charger.
• Buy an assortment of ready-to-eat foods such as canned meats, granola bars, nuts and dried fruits.
• Keep extra ice in the freezer during summer and a foam cooler handy for emergency fresh food storage.
• Keep chlorine tablets on hand for emergency water purification.
• In a warm weather power outage, it’s particularly important to stay hydrated. You’ll need one gallon of water per day for each person in your household.

Keep Your Home Safe During Power Outages

When power’s restored, surges can cause electrical damage to your air conditioner, expensive appliances and electronics. Turn off the A/C from the thermostat and unplug appliances that were in use before the power loss. Close all of the blinds and curtains to insulate your house from the heat.

Alternate sources of cooking and gas lanterns should never be used indoors or near open windows and doors. Improperly used grills, camp stoves and any equipment that burns fuel presents the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Food and Water Safety in an Outage

If you keep your refrigerator closed during a power outage that lasts less than four hours, your food is likely going to make it. But during longer outages, store fresh food in a foam cooler. Frozen food will be okay for 24 hours in a half-full freezer and 48 hours if the freezer is completely full. Discard any food that reaches 40 degrees or higher. Municipal water purification systems may not work during an outage, so stick with bottled or boiled water if possible for both cooking and hygiene.

For more tips on how to be prepared for a power outage, contact Apollo Home Heating, Cooling and Plumbing. We’ve served the greater Cincinnati area for more than 100 years.

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