Are You Prepared for Hurricane Season?

By: Steve Harmon, Vice President & General Manager

Hurricane season officially began June 1st and just as Pioneer Electric Cooperative has an Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), we would like to urge not only our members but all of our surrounding community to have their own emergency plan ready to implement should a hurricane strike, particularly if they depend on electricity for life-sustaining equipment. You need to be prepared to be without power for two weeks or possibly longer depending on the severity of the storm.

As part of Pioneer’s EOP, we have linemen and tree trimmers from around the state and country on stand-by ready to help our field personnel assess damage, clear trees and begin power restoration once the storm passes.

In addition to having our employees prepared, Pioneer has sufficient supplies in inventory to begin restoration efforts. The cooperative has also made arrangements with its vendors and distributors for post-storm needs.

In the first few days after a hurricane or major storm, Pioneer will assess the damage and then will work continuously around the clock until everyone's power is restored. Our first priority is restoring service to key facilities vital to safety, health and public welfare, such as hospitals, water treatment plants and public service facilities. Then, we repair those major lines and circuits that will restore power to the greatest number of customers in the shortest amount of time.

In advance of landfall of a major hurricane, we urge everyone to prepare by doing the following:

• Know your home's vulnerability to storm surge, flooding and wind.
• Locate the safest areas in your home and determine escape routes if needed. Decide where to meet if evacuation is necessary. Plan where you and your family can stay if your home is damaged or destroyed.
• Have an out-of-state friend as a single point of contact for all family members.
• Make a plan now for your pets if you need to evacuate.
• Have flashlights, battery-powered lanterns and other light sources ready.
• Have fresh and extra batteries on hand for flashlights and radio.
• Listen to weather forecasts for possible hurricanes.
• Use a NOAA weather radio or other battery-powered radio for information.
• Have enough medicine, first aid supplies and baby care items. If prescriptions are essential, get them refilled in case of an extended power outage or damage to your area.
• Have identification and documentation on hand: Social Security card; driver's license; birth certificate; and home, car, and life insurance information. Keep them and other important documents in a water-proof file box.
• Have a telephone on hand that does not depend on electricity to operate.
• Post Pioneer's outage reporting telephone number---1-800-533-0323---in an easy-to-find place in your home, such as on your refrigerator or near your telephone.
• Make sure your children know how and when to call 911.
• Take First Aid, CPR and disaster preparedness classes.

During a Hurricane:

• Get inside a building and stay away from windows.
• Do not leave candles unattended--keep them away from furniture, draperies and other flammable materials.
• To preserve refrigerated items during a power outage, open freezers and refrigerators only when necessary.
• Turn off heating and air conditioning systems and electric ranges.
• Unplug sensitive electronic equipment such as TVs, DVD/ VCR players, microwave ovens and computers to protect them from surges and fluctuations that may occur during the storm and when power is restored. After power is restored, wait five to ten minutes before turning on appliances and heating/cooling systems.

After a Hurricane:

• If power lines and poles are down in your yard or street, stay away! They may be energized and dangerous. Even the ground around a fallen live line can become energized and dangerous. Notify Pioneer or emergency personnel immediately.
• Storm debris can hide downed power lines. Live power lines in fallen trees can energize anything that comes in contact with the trees, such as metal fences, bicycles, or standing water. Stay away!
• If power is out, call Pioneer at 1-800-533-0323 to confirm there is an outage at your home.
• Never replace a fuse or reset a breaker with wet hands or while standing on a damp surface.
• If power is out and you use a portable generator, make sure to operate it only in a well-ventilated area. If you cook on a camp stove or charcoal grill, do so outside to avoid deadly carbon monoxide fumes.
• If you plan to connect a generator to your home, be sure to disconnect your home from the power grid as the power you generate can flow back through power lines and hurt or kill lineman working to restore power.

We’d also like to take the time to ask our members to update their account information today. When a customer calls to report an outage, Pioneer’s automated phone system recognizes his or her phone number and/or account number and matches it to his or her address, helping us locate outages quickly.

To help ensure restoration as quickly as possible, it is important that Pioneer has updated telephone numbers. This helps ensure that we can automatically generate a work order for repair crews if an outage occurs at that home or place of business.

The system groups outage calls by location, checks them against a detailed circuit model database and predicts where the problem is. Updated mobile computers in service trucks allow crews to access the expanded information and quickly respond to the outage. This is the fastest, most efficient way Pioneer can restore power.

To help prepare for restoration, we are asking our members who may have changed their home or business telephone numbers (the phone number at the location where electric service is delivered) to inform the company of the change by visiting www.pioneerelectric.com or by calling our customer service department at 1-800-239-3092.

At Pioneer Electric, we're committed to our community and we want to continue to provide you with the tools to keep you and your family safe. For more information on safety and other energy saving tips during this hurricane season, log on to our website today.