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Emergency Preparedness

Guide Book

COPING IN WINTER POWER OUTAGES

What To Do If An Outage Occurs

     First, find out whether the outage is just in your home, or in your neighbourhood.

If it is in your home:

     Turn off and disconnect appliances.

     Check your fuse box or circuit breakers.

     If fuses have blown, or circuits have switched themselves off, you may have overloaded that circuit.  Turn off your appliances or equipment and replace the fuse or throw the circuit breaker.

If the power is out in your neighbourhood:

     In the winter, turn your thermostat down to minimum and switch off and unplug large appliances.  This could prevent injury, damage to sensitive electronic equipment and fire, if a sudden power surge occurs when power is restored.

     It is also easier to restore power when the system is not overloaded.

     Remember to leave one light switch on.  This will let you know when power has been restored.

     And, if you keep a battery-powered radio nearby, you'll be able to get updates on the outage and restoration activities.

     There's no need to empty your fridge and freezer right away as food will keep from 24 to 48 hours, as long as the door stays closed.     

When Things Are Up and Running Again

     Once the refrigerator and freezer are running smoothly, the food supply should be carefully checked.

     Anything that can be safely refrozen can be saved and everything else should be discarded.

     If the outage was less than four hours, give your electrical system a chance to stabilize.  Turn on only the most essential appliances and wait 10-15 minutes before reconnecting others.

     Remember to reset all your clocks, automatic timers and alarms.

Water Pipes & Flooding

     In the dead of winter, power outages can create problems such as pipes freezing and basements flooding, especially if you live in the country and are on a well and septic system.

     Power outages mean no running water, which leads to no flushing of toilets, and without heat, there is the added threat of pipes freezing and bursting.

     To prevent pipes from freezing it is a good idea to drain the pipes and shut off the main water supply.  Before you drain your pipes you may first want to collect water in clean containers for emergency drinking and cleaning purposes.

     Open all faucets, including your water heater.  If you have an electric hot water heater, drain the hot water heating system by turning it off and leaving the valves open.

     Add plumbing antifreeze or recreational vehicle winterizing solution to the toilet and other pipes and traps with standing water.

     If you have a septic tank, antifreeze could damage it so make sure you pump the chemical from the plumbing fixtures and pipes before they are refilled with water.  Do not drink water you have added anti-freeze to!

     If you have no running water and wish to continue to use your toilet, fill your bathtub with snow or water from a creek.  After using the toilet pour a bucket of water in the toilet and it will flush automatically.

     If your pipes do freeze, do not attempt to thaw them yourself.  Contact a qualified professional.  Many people set fire to their houses attempting to thaw water pipes themselves.

     If your basement is flooding and you have no emergency generator to power a sump pump or other means to pump the basement, move all furniture and anything of value to a dry location and disconnect the power supply to prevent damage when the power comes back on.