Cooperative Living Northern Virginia Electric • June 2016 • Prepare Now for Summer Storms, Hurricanes, and Possible Power Outgates

Remember Hurricane Irene? NOVEC does! She blew through the region just days after an earthquake in Mineral, Virginia, rippled as far as Maine in August 2011. Irene left a path of destruction and power outages along the East Coast and caused at least 56 deaths. A year later, a powerful derecho wind storm rolled over Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., on Friday night, June 29, 2012. Fallen trees on powerlines put more than 4 million people in the dark just before temperatures soared past 100 degrees. A few months later, Superstorm Sandy devastated the Mid-Atlantic region.

Long-time residents might remember Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. Co-op line techs had to use boats to reach some substations and outage locations as Agnes’ 16 inches of rain flooded areas.

Long before Agnes, Sandy, derecho, and Irene, Virginians weathered storms. English settlers described them in letters and diaries after establishing Jamestown in 1607 in a colony named for Elizabeth I, the “virgin queen.” Native Americans told the new arrivals the god Hurricano caused tempests.1

Hurricano’s wrath came upon the settlement in August 1609 when a “most terrible and vehement storm” raged for 44 hours. Hurricano struck again in 1667 and caused the Chesapeake Bay to rise 12 feet. According to Norfolk in the By-Gone Days by the Rev. W.H.T. Squires, 12 days of pounding rain and wind blew away 10,000 Jamestown houses and Fort George at Old Comfort Point.2

• Post NOVEC’s telephone number, 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500, in an easy-to-find place. To expedite outage reporting and service restoration, make sure NOVEC has your home’s current phone number. To report a new or changed number, call NOVEC, with the account number handy, and push or say “2,” then select option “3” and follow directions.

• Designate the safest shelter location. Be prepared to leave a mobile home for better protection. Develop a plan for someone disabled.

• Have an emergency kit ready. Include: non-perishable food, manual can opener, canned fuel for heating food along with matches or a lighter, lots of bottled water, flashlights, lanterns, battery-operated radio, fresh batteries, ice coolers, first-aid supplies, a whistle to signal for help, and if applicable, sufficient prescription drugs, pet food, and baby-care items. Learn more at www.nhc.noaa.gov.

• Have identification and documentation ready to grab. Keep Social Security information; birth certificates; home, car, and life insurance files; and other important documents in a waterproof file box.

• Pack the freezer with food or ice cubes. The fuller, the longer food will stay frozen. The opposite applies to refrigerators: the less food the better. So clean out your refrigerator regularly.

• Turn off air-conditioning systems and appliances, but keep at least one exterior light on so Co-op crews will know when power has been restored if an outage occurs.

• Unplug TVs, DVD/VCR players, microwave ovens, and computers to protect them from power surges and fluctuations that may occur during the storm and when power is first restored.

• Call, text, or email NOVEC. Click on the outage map for updates. Learn more at www.novec.com/outageinfo.

• Warning: Stay away from downed power lines and poles and the area around them. Storm debris, such as metal fences and bicycles, can hide a downed power line, which can energize anything that comes in contact with it. Notify NOVEC immediately at 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500!

• Use flashlights or lanterns instead of candles. If you use candles, keep them away from children and flammable household furnishings.

• Open freezers and refrigerators only when necessary. Put frequently used perishable food in coolers with ice or ice packs.

• Warning: Only use a portable generator, camp stove, or charcoal grill outdoors to prevent creating deadly carbon-monoxide fumes indoors. Only professionals should install whole-house generators because an incorrectly installed one could back-feed electricity onto the grid and seriously harm line techs who are trying to restore service.

• After power is restored, wait five to 10 minutes before turning on appliances and cooling systems.