Storms can wreak havoc to homes, buildings and individuals if care is not taken. However, early planning and preventative measures are your best bet in the event of powerful storms. This way, you can be sure that you have done your very best to protect yourself and your loved ones. In fact, it is always smart not to leave anything to chance even when you live in designated low-risk areas.
One of the major things that typically happen during a storm is a power outage. This is not surprising seeing as the high winds are often capable of knocking down dedicated power lines, thus throwing the whole area in darkness. So what do you do when the power goes out during a hurricane? What steps do you need to take to ensure that you are not in darkness and that your home stays well lit?
Always Have Some Candles, Flashlights and Torches Handy
Some things are essential to your survival and crucial to helping you weather the storm and keeping you safe and as comfortable as possible while waiting for the storms to pass. Some of these include candles, flashlights, and torches. This is why you must have these stored up in abundance, just in case the light goes out for days and its dark out.
So, have all of these ready and available in your emergency preparedness kits. It could be the difference between staying as comfy as possible during the storm or getting injured in the home while trying to find your way around the house. Moreover, injuries are not something you can or should sustain because you may not get the medical help you need.
Always Have a Backup Generator or Inverter
Always have a backup generator in place to help with the lights when they get turned off by either the power company or the storm knocks out your power lines. The generator should be properly serviced and in excellent shape so that it can run for as long as necessary. What we would advise is simple: alternate the generators with other light sources such as those mentioned in the first step.
Turn on the generators for a few hours and then switch to those alternate light sources. This will help conserve your fuel and keep you going until the lights come back on or the hurricane passes. Also, get an inverter that will be able to power all your barest essentials.
Inverters are a great option because you will not have to go outside the house during a storm, and is an excellent way to keep the home lit when the power goes out. Depending on your needs, we would recommend a 1.5kVA-3.5kVA inverter.
These are capable of powering a lot of your gadgets. Moreover, if you do not load them to full capacity, they can last for days, thus helping you stay as comfy as possible if/when the lights go out.
Keep The Generators Away from the House
This is in order to prevent you and your loved ones from becoming victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. In fact, anything that generates fumes of any kind need to stay outside the house. If it is possible, put them in a shed that’s meters away from the house. Also, take the necessary preventive measures to stay cool in the heat or stay warm if the weather is frigid. Get lots of drinkable water, blankets and layers of clothing –if the weather is cold- and only eat properly stored or heated food and drinks.
Oscar King is an Orlando resident whom believes in always being prepared for the worst case scenarios – especially hurricanes. To fix up any electrical damage that results after a hurricane, he turns to the electrical experts at Bob Heinmiller AC. You can learn more about Oscar on Google+.