Preparing for outages

You can prepare ahead of time to deal with a power outage. The following are a few tips to help you cope the next time the lights go out.

At home
  • Have the Eugene Water & Electric Board outage line, (541) 484-2300, posted in a handy spot.
  • Prepare an emergency kit that contains flashlights, extra batteries, candles, matches, blankets, a manual can opener, and a battery-operated radio, alarm clock and lantern.
  • Store a supply of drinking water and non-perishable food.
  • If you get water from a well, make sure you store enough water to flush toilets.
  • If you have an electric garage door opener, make sure you know where the manual override is located.
  • Have a corded telephone available. Cordless phones will not work in a power outage. You also may want to check to see if your answering machine will work without electricity.
  • Protect chip-driven, sensitive equipment such as personal computers, televisions, VCRs, DVD players and stereos with a surge suppressor.
At work
  • Create an outage response plan, and then practice it with your employees at least once a year.
  • Make sure you and key employees know where electric supply panels are located and know how to shut off the power.
  • Know where shutoff switches are for your equipment.
  • Consider installing emergency lighting or a backup generator.
  • Create and maintain an emergency kit that includes flashlights, battery-powered radio, battery-powered clocks, emergency phone numbers, extra batteries and bottled water.
  • Have a non-electrical cash register on hand as a backup.
  • Protect computers from power surges with high-quality surge protectors. Prevent the loss of critical data with automated backup programs.
  • Make sure electronic door locks can be bypassed manually.