With more winter weather heading to our region, you might be concerned about how to keep your family safe.
Botetourt County Emergency Manager Daniel Murray said you should be prepared if you lose power.
“So, if you walk through your house and think about the things that require power that you use every day and think about if the power was out, ‘How would I do this? How would I operate?’ Oftentimes, it’s things like cooking or getting water, charging your cell phone or even accessing the Internet, things like that are part of our daily life, just trying to think through how we would do that without power in our house,” said Murray
Also, contact your power company.
“So, if you lose your power, every power company has an outage center that you can log on to from your cell phone or computer, and you can let them know that you have power out in your area. And that just notifies the dispatch center that there’s an issue and that they need to send somebody out to take a look at that area,” said Murray.
Sometimes people bring out their generators if they lose power. However, Murray said to be careful.
He said the number one piece of advice is to run the generator at least three feet away from your house outside, where it’s well-ventilated, and away from a window.
“The second thing is you want to be careful with the power that comes off of the generator. Sometimes people will make a power cord that just hooks into their house, and if it’s not done correctly, it could cause a lot of issues and it can be a fire hazard. So you want to plan out what you’re going to run off the generator and run it specifically off a separate extension cord or something like that so that when the power does come back on, it doesn’t create a major issue or a fire,” Murray.
Murray said with generators, you want to watch out for signs of carbon monoxide.
Some of the signs include sleepiness and a headache.
If this happens, go outside and call 911.
Also, make sure to have an emergency kit in your house and your car with things like blankets, your phone, food and even a battery.
You might also be concerned about your furry best friend.
The Roanoke Valley SPCA said it’s okay to take your pet outside to use the bathroom, but it should be for a short time.
Marketing and Communications Director Julie Rickmond said to look for signs that your pet is shivering, holding up a paw, or has hypothermia. If your pet has hypothermia, bring it inside to warm up and call your vet.
Also, if you have pets or livestock that have to be outside, make sure they are eating enough.
“They may need more calorie-rich food during this time or more food just because they spend more energy keeping themselves warm. So, you may need to be feeding them more and also taking a look at what is in their food to make sure that it’s appropriate for this time of year,” said Rickmond.
Rickmond and Murray said to look at the weather as well.
”Just keep an eye on the weather, know what’s coming, know what to expect. Keep your ear out for any warnings or things that we may send out because we try to keep the public informed between us and the National Weather Service,” said Murray.