Did You Know: May, June and July are the peak tornado months in Ohio accounting for over half of the twisters that have hit since 1950? That means: it’s officially storm season.
With the ever-present threat of storms, our teams are working hard to keep your power on. Here are some things you can do to take charge and stay safe.
Be Prepared
- Create a plan of what to do in the event of a storm. Identify a safe area for you and your family, like a basement, or interior portion of your house with few windows. Be sure to decide what you’ll do if there’s an extended power outage.
- Make an emergency preparedness kit that includes (at minimum) non-perishable food, drinking water, a flashlight, batteries, a battery-powered radio or television, portable cell phone charging bank, a blanket or sleeping bag, a first aid kit and any necessary medications.
- Check your local forecast daily to easily track weather reports in your area.
Keep Safe
- Discuss the danger of downed power lines with your family. Never approach a fallen line or touch anything it may be touching. Call 911 and AEP Ohio immediately if you spot a potential hazard.
- If you plan to place a swimming pool on your property this summer, never install it under electric lines. It’s possible for downed wires to electrify your pool — posing a significant safety risk to you and your family. Contact us to help find the right location if there are electric lines nearby.
- Familiarize yourself with the various types of severe weather that may impact your area such as flash floods, tornadoes and thunderstorms.
- Learn the difference between storm watches and storm warnings. According to the National Weather Service, a watch indicates that conditions are favorable for the development of severe weather. Anyone in the affected area should be ready to move to a place of safety if the watch is upgraded to a warning or if threatening weather approaches. A warning means that severe weather is imminent and there may be impending danger to life and property. Anyone in the affected area should seek safe shelter immediately.
Visit AEPOhio.com/Safety for more information and tips.
Stay Informed
- Download the AEP Ohio mobile app.
- Sign up to get text alerts sent straight to your smartphone.
- Follow AEP Ohio on Facebook and Twitter for live updates.
- Report outages and safety hazards at com/Outages or by calling 1-800-672-2231.
Thank you to AEP, I found this helpful and much appreciate your efforts.
I think you need to figure out a phone number where people can find out approximately how long the power will be out. If it is to be lengthy in cold weather, we need to figure out how to protect our house from freezing and if it is hot, we need to figure out how to save frozen food, etc. We are elderly and we cannot do things at the last minute so not having any idea of when to expect power to be restored is a problem. Last winter, I called several numbers and was able to contact only people out of state who had no idea of what was going on. This is unacceptable. Don’t tell me to go online when I have no power, that is a joke.
Paul, you might also considering signing up for text alerts through your mobile device. Go to: AEPOhio.com/alerts
You made a good point about the swimming pool. Another thing you may want to do is to cover your pool before a storm or heavy rain. It will prevent your pool water from being imbalanced. Leaves, debris and rainwater entering the pool disrupt the chemistry of the water. This often leads to algae growth, which is quite challenging to get rid of.