BELLINGHAM — Washington had the fifth-highest number of power outages in the U.S. in 2021 according to Stacker, a data analysis website, so being prepared for power outages in your own home is very important.
Power outages not only disrupt our own homes, but close retail businesses, ATMs, grocery stores, gas stations and other services people rely on. Power outages can also cause water contamination and food spoilage, disrupt transportation and prevent use of medical devices, according to Ready.gov, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security website.
How to prepare for a power outage
Homeland Security advises citizens to prepare for power outages by:
- Take an inventory of items in your home that need electricity, and have batteries or other power sources available to keep them charged.
- Talk to your doctor about medical devices or medicines that rely on power or refrigeration.
- Have nonperishable food and water stored in your home.
Puget Sound Energy reminds those in Washington to prepare for a power outage by having a plan:
- Know how to manually open and close electric doors such as garage doors.
- Know how to properly shut off your natural gas if needed.
- Create an emergency kit of items you may need in a power outage or other emergency.
The Red Cross advises citizens to recognize how a power outage will affect their home’s cooling, heating, lighting, cooking equipment, food and medicine refrigeration and medical and medical equipment, and plan ahead before an outage:
- Install carbon monoxide and fire alarms and make sure to replace batteries regularly.
- Create a pet emergency kit if you have animals at home, and make sure to also stock up on foods they need.
- Stay connected in order to know updated information. Sign up for text alert systems and alert apps to stay up to date on the power outage.
- Make sure you have surge protectors on all your household appliances.
- Prepare for your heating and cooling needs. You cannot use outdoor heaters, stoves or generators to heat your home, so you may need to plan on staying somewhere else during a power outage.
Clark Public Utilities offers these additional tips:
- A cellphone is one of the most important items to keep charged during an outage. Buy a portable power bank or car charger, but be careful not to drain your vehicle’s battery.
- A hand crank radio not only will bring you information and alerts about the emergency, some provide a USB port to charge devices. Hand crank radios can also have multiple options for power (crank, battery, and solar) and come with a flashlight for added safety.
- Know where flashlights are stored and make sure they can be accessed in the dark. Newer flashlights are being manufactured with USB ports to aid in charging devices. Keep the batteries handy since this method tends to gobble up the electrons quickly.
- Consider buying a solar charger or generator. Many of the outages in Clark County happen due to wind and inclement weather. If the outage lasts into the daylight, a solar charger may be an option for small devices. Solar chargers and generators can take a while to charge any devices and often are not large enough for items requiring a lot of power.
The Columbian contributed to this article.
