The Okanagan and Kootenay regions could see electric power outages caused by snow and wind storms from Friday night to Saturday morning. Winter storms in the mountainous service areas often lead to trees falling on power lines, which can cause outages for the area.
FortisBC has some details on preparations for outages:
- Post emergency and utility contact numbers in a central place in the house and store your emergency kit where you can easily find it in the dark.
- Prepare an emergency kit with enough supplies for at least 72 hours and store it in a location you can easily find in the dark.
- Stock up on sleeping bags, blankets and extra clothing for warmth.
- Protect your electronics, such as TVs, cable boxes, PVRs and computers, by plugging them into surge-protecting power bars.
- Try to keep phones charged and conserve your cell phone batteries when a storm is in the forecast.
- Know how to use the manual releases on automated doors.
- Follow @FortisBC on Twitter and check outages.fortisbc.com for updates on outages and work crews.
FortisBC reminds people to stay at least 10 metres, or the length of a school bus, away from from any downed lines while safety crews come to the scene. Call 1-866-436-7847 to report any incidents.
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