KIUC Offers Tips On Staying Safe After the Storm  

With another tropical storm making its way toward Hawai`i, Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative offers the following tips and information on what to do to keep yourself and your property safe if the power goes out:

• Before the storm, unplug electronic equipment and use surge protectors.
• Make sure your cell phones and mobile devices are fully charged. Buy a car charger if you don’t already have one.
• After the storm, don’t try to clear tree branches and debris from downed power poles and lines. You can get hurt or killed just touching something that’s in contact with a line that’s energized.  Leave the work of clearing debris to the professionals.
• If you have a smart meter, you don’t have to call to report an outage, so help keep our phone lines clear. KIUC’s smart grid shows dispatchers where the outages are so they can direct repair crews to neighborhoods and even individual houses. If you don’t have a smart meter, you can call 246-4300 during regular hours or 246-8200 after hours.
• If you’re using a large generator to provide power to your entire house, make sure it’s isolated from the KIUC grid. Generators back-feeding power onto circuits can injure utility workers.
• If you have a rooftop photovoltaic system, check with your installer on whether you need to take any special precautions for emergencies. Most systems are designed to shut off if there’s a power outage.
• Watch for updates on KIUC’s Facebook page, follow @KIUC on Twitter and listen to the radio.