Last Updated on October 1, 2015 5:59 pm
Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation is closely monitoring conditions and the potential for outages as a result of continued sustained heavy rain affecting our region from Hurricane Joaquin. Linemen and all cooperative employees are on high alert status.
Days of heavy sustained rain during the past week has already led to several outages caused by fallen trees and large tree limbs. Continued heavy rain predicted today through the weekend could lead to flooding, loose soil and more large trees outside the cooperative’s rights of way uprooting and potentially impacting the electric system.
Blue Ridge Electric advises members to be prepared and offers the following tips. Keep the following items handy in an emergency supply kit in a central location in your home:
- Blue Ridge Electric’s PowerLine outage reporting number: 1-800-448-2383. Also remember to keep smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices charged, including external back up power supply devices.
- Water: one gallon per person, per day
- Food: non-perishable, easy-to-prepare items
- Manual can opener
- Flashlights
- Battery-powered radio, preferably a NOAA Weather Radio
- Extra batteries
- First aid kit
- Medications and medical items your household may need
- Multi-purpose tool
- Sanitation and personal hygiene items
- Copies of personal documents such as medications, insurance policies, etc.
- Family and emergency contact information
- Extra cash
- Blankets, rain gear and other items that would come in helpful during wet or cold weather
- A grill and extra propane or charcoal and lighter fluid may come in handy but be sure to use grills outdoors only
- Battery operated clock
- A non-cordless phone which is likely to operate even when power is out
- Consider checking electric garage doors to locate the manual release in case of a power outage
Also remember to quick link or book mark the cooperative’s online outage map at: http://bremco.maps.sienatech.com/. The cooperative’s live online map shows any current outages and estimated time of restoration.
Members can also find more information at BlueRidgeEMC.com under the Storm Room and on the cooperative’s social media pages during major outages: www.facebook.com/blueridgeemc and Twitter: www.twitter.com/blueridgeemc.
