Preparing for a Power Outage

Preparing for a Power Outage

by | Safety | 2 comments

Power outages can last anywhere from a few hours to days or even weeks. In the latter case, an outage can affect entire communities, disrupting communications, transportation, and emergency response or health care services. It can also close businesses, banks, gas stations, grocery stores, and other services.

Understanding why and how they happen can help you better prepare. Next, having a plan and taking precautions ahead of time will help you and your family ride out the outage with less stress and a greater sense of control.

 

When and Why They Happen

Knowing how outages happen can sometimes help you predict when they’re most likely to occur – for instance, during storms or heatwaves. Other times, they’re random and unpredictable.

    • Weather – Storms and weather events such as high winds, ice, and snow are the most common cause of outages, oftentimes due to trees and limbs taking down power lines. Rain and flooding can also damage above-ground or underground electrical equipment. And earthquakes of all sizes can damage electrical grids.
    • Animals – Far and away, squirrels cause the most damage to power lines, but snakes and other critters can prompt an outage by nesting in or climbing on transformers, boxes and other equipment.
    • Human Error – Car accidents and digging mishaps — when underground lines are hit — are a common cause. Additionally, electrical overuse during heatwaves and other times of unusually high demand can overburden cables, transformers and other links in the system.

 

 

Get Ahead of an Outage with Smart Planning

Planning and preparation are key to making a power outage manageable. There’s no better time than today to get started on the steps below.

Communications

    • Download the NOAA radio app, your local weather alert app, and any other emergency app of your choice.
    • Talk to your medical provider If anyone in your household requires electric medical devices or refrigerated medication. Get guidance on what to do if you lose power.
    • Update your phone number and contact information with your electric provider.

Plans and kits

    • Assemble or update your emergency kit – one for your family and another for your pet(s). Be sure to check and replace all batteries and have fresh back-ups. Also make sure you have COVID-19 supplies such as hand sanitizer, wipes, masks, and gloves.
    • Make sure your household evacuation plan is current, and all household members and pets are accounted for.
    • Know your local community’s risk and response plans.
    • Have a plan, budget, and some extra cash on hand in case power restoration is delayed.

In Your Home

    • Install surge protectors to help safeguard expensive appliances, computers and entertainment systems.
    • Install carbon monoxide monitors with battery backup on every level of your home.
    • Have at least a half tank of gas in your car at all times.
    • Purchase household and food supplies ahead of time and stash some extras in case of an extended outage.

 

 

A Go-To Plan for When the Grid Goes Dark

Ideally, you and your family will have been able to take the above steps before the lights go out. If so, you’ll be ready to put the following strategies into place in order to remain as safe and comfortable as possible during the outage.

Communications

    • Tune into the NOAA radio on a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, and/or the local radio station for news and weather updates.
    • Report the outage immediately to your local power provider (have their info printed out and handy).

In Your Home

    • Turn off and unplug all appliances, including the air conditioner, water heater, furnace, and water pump, as well as any sensitive electronics. Leave one light on to know when the power’s been restored – this helps prevent a circuit overload when everything comes back online.
    • Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Frozen food will stay frozen for 24-48 hours, depending on how full the freezer is. For refrigerated items, after about 4 hours, move perishable items into a cooler with ice (they should remain at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or colder to be safe).
    • If using portable stoves or lanterns, only use them in sufficiently ventilated areas.
    • Use flashlights instead of candles.

Outside

    • Report any downed power lines to your electric company. Keep yourself, family, and pets away from downed lines, flooded areas, and debris.
    • Avoid driving if you can. Traffic lights will be out and roads will be chaotic and unsafe.
    • If you’re operating a generator, follow safety protocols. Never operate it in your home, garage, or other enclosed spaces.
    • Check on your neighbors. The elderly and young children are especially susceptible to extreme temperatures.

 

The length of time it takes to restore power can vary according to the cause of the outage, the extent of damage, and the geographic area affected. Electric companies have detailed plans and procedures for restoration — starting with repairs to damaged power infrastructure, then re-powering critical community services, and finally restoring power to individuals and businesses in order of density.

 

By following the tips above, you can ride out the worst of it with less stress, knowing you prepared well.

 

 

This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.

Childproof Your Car Before a Road Trip

Childproof Your Car Before a Road Trip

by | Auto Insurance Info, Safety | 0 comments

Whether summer road trips beckon or you’re resuming more pre-quarantine activities, increased highway time with your tiny-passenger crew means revisiting best practices for safety.

Check out the following tips for keeping kids safe while in your ride. We’ve also gathered some strategies for keeping your car’s interior safe (and clean) from those same tiny passengers.

 

The Safety Basics

    • Always use a car seat. Car seats are designed to protect children from injury or death during vehicle collisions, so choosing the right one and installing it properly tops the list. Check the car seat laws in your state here, and refer to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for an in-depth guide on car seats and booster seats.
    • Activate child locks to prevent any dangerous mishaps with children accidentally opening doors.
    • Use the window locks to keep children from playing with the controls and potentially getting their hand, arm or hair caught in a rolling window.
    • Secure safety belts. If there are any unused, loose belts within arm’s reach of your child, secure them so there’s no chance of them becoming an entanglement hazard.
    • Never leave a child alone in a car. Not even for a minute. From heat stroke and abduction risk to the possibility of a hit-and-run incident or your child getting loose in the car, the potential of harm is simply too great to chance it.
    • Never leave your keys in the ignition or car. Ever-observant, your children have surely seen how you use your keys and, if afforded the chance, could try mimicking your actions.
    • Use the back-up camera to avoid hitting children outside your vehicle who may be out of view.

 

More Child-Proofing

    • Declutter the car. Any object can become a projectile in an accident, so make sure items are secure or stowed away. Keeping your car clean also decreases the risk of your child grabbing something that might be a choking hazard.
    • Use sunshades to protect their delicate skin from harsh UV rays. You can find easy-to-use shades in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles.
    • In-car entertainment. The upside to living in the Age of Screens is that they’re a parent’s best friend in keeping kids distracted and entertained in the car.
    • Never drive distracted. Not only does distracted driving endanger you and your children, it sets a bad example for their future driving habits. Eating, texting, inattention, and daydreaming all pull your focus away from the road. So does engaging with your kids in the back seat, which is all the more reason to get everyone set up and settled in before you pull out from the driveway.
    • Maintain your vehicle to decrease the chances of overheating, breaking down or getting stranded.

 

Minimizing the “Mess Orbit” in Your Car

    • Get a rug or a beach towel to protect underneath the car seat and along the entire seat’s length. It’s easy to remove, shake out, and throw in the washer.
    • If you allow food in the car, only allow that which can be vacuumed up (i.e. nothing squishy, mushy or sticky). For liquids, water (in spill-proof cups) tops the list for easiest clean-up.
    • Cover the backs of the driver and front passenger seats to protect them from dirty footprints.
    • Put cupcake liners in the cupholders to catch those unreachable crumbs.
    • Invest in a quality seat protector for leather seats that may become stressed by the car seat’s weight over time.

 

As with anything else that involves kids, creating habits and routines are often the key to success. When it comes to vehicle safety, adopting best-practice habits will keep your entire crew safer and happier on the road.

 

 

This article is furnished by California Casualty, providing auto and home insurance to educators, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and nurses. Get a quote at 1.866.704.8614 or www.calcas.com.

6 Tips to Keep Your Child Safe This Summer

by | Health | 0 comments

 

With summer time comes rising temperatures, and for babies those temperatures can become deadly if they get trapped in a hot car. Even the most attentive and caring parents make mistakes – including accidentally leaving or locking a child in a car. Sometimes, children climb into unlocked, parked cars in the driveway without their parents realizing it, and when they do it is often too late. Regardless of how it happens, children left in hot vehicles are in grave danger within a matter of minutes.

Here are some tips for making double & triple sure that your child is safe this summer:

  1. Never leave your child in the car. No exceptions: No matter how brief your errand or how quick your stop, NEVER leave a child in the car. Under any circumstances, even with the windows cracked or completely rolled down, there is no safe amount of time to leave a child in the car.
  2. Get involved if you are a bystander: If you see a child alone in a hot vehicle, call 911 immediately. If they are in distress due to heat, the National Highway Safety Administration recommends getting them out as soon as possible.
  3. Remind Yourself: Oftentimes, children’s car seats are behind the parent’s seat, out of sight, and if your child is asleep it can be easy to forget they are even with you. Remind yourself out loud to remember the child; give yourself visual cues; place your purse or briefcase in back by the child- so when you exit the car, you are reminded; place the diaper bag in the seat next to you where you can see it. If you are changing up routine (for example, if Dad usually drives the child in the morning, but today Mom is doing so), it is easy to forget. New parents have a lot on their minds and accidents can happen.
  4. Prevent kids from wandering into the car: Don’t let children play in your car unattended. Lock your car doors and trunk, and keep keys out of any child’s reach. That way, you minimize the risk that they climb into your car without you knowing they have done so.
  5. Make it routine: Make it a habit to physically open the back car door and check for anyone left behind every single time you get out of the car.
  6. Have back up:  Make arrangements with your child’s day care center or babysitter that you will always call if your child will not be there on a particular day as scheduled. That way if you forget and they are absent, they will alert you.

For more car safety tips, visit the National Highway Safety Administration.

12 Healthy Reasons to Take that Labor Day Vacation

by | Auto Insurance Info | 0 comments

So did you take some time off this Labor Day? It’s the last hurrah of summer and one of the last chances to get in a vacation before winter. Getting away could also save your life.

Numerous job-site studies have found almost half of all American workers don’t use their vacation time, despite the fact that over 60 percent say work stresses them out. Stress can be a killer, causing heart disease, digestive disorders, lack of sleep, high blood pressure and weight gain. Health experts warn that not taking your vacation time can be dangerous to your health.

That’s compounded by employers demanding more from their employees, who often clock in well over the standard 40 hour work week. A government study found that job stress leads to more accidents, absenteeism and even violence in the work place, resulting in $300 billion dollar cost to U.S. businesses each year.

So why would we skip vacations? Many of us say we can’t afford them – monetarily or because of work demands. However, research shows workers who take time to de-stress and relax actually save businesses billions of dollars by reducing health care costs and through increased worker productivity.

With that in mind, Expedia looked at the research and came up with 12 reasons why you need to take your vacations:

  1. Time off boosts brain power, improving memorizing new skills
  2. Time away from work fully recharges a depleted brain
  3. Being away from work allows the brain to connect and consolidate, creating better problem solving
  4. Workers who take time off live longer (reducing risk of disease by 21 percent)
  5. Time off helps the heart (men who skip vacation increase their risk of heart attack by 30 percent)
  6. Relaxation prevents coronary heart disease
  7. Vacations improve worker quality
  8. Time off stimulates creativity
  9. Worker performance increased the more vacation employees used
  10. Vacation time helps prevent depression
  11. Time off improves sleep
  12. Taking vacations improves attitudes and motivates employees to achieve higher goals

For those looking for one last great summer adventure, Expedia has collected data and released a list of the top 10 destinations for Labor Day 2016:

  1. Atlanta
  2. Los Angeles
  3. Chicago
  4. New York
  5. Dallas/Fort Worth
  6. San Francisco
  7. Denver
  8. Seattle
  9. Las Vegas
  10. Charlotte, NC

 

If Europe has been on your travel radar, the strong dollar compared to the Euro has made many trans-Atlantic destinations even more affordable this year.

And, if you are packing the car and hitting the road for the three day weekend, you are not alone. Fuel prices are some of the lowest in decades this Labor Day. That means more Americans will be on the nation’s highways and byways and unfortunately traffic crashes are expected to rise.  The National Safety Council is urging all drivers to remain attentive, avoid alcohol before taking the wheel, get plenty of sleep, never use a cell phone or other devices while driving and have everyone in the vehicle wear their seat belts.

Don’t let a flat tire or heat drained battery detour your fun if you choose to drive to your Labor Day destination; check out our list of summer auto care tips.

So, where is your favorite place or thing to do for Labor Day? Let us know so we can share it with others.

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