What to do in Case of Power Outages
Keeping your power on is our number one priority. Despite our best efforts, power outages do occur for a variety of reasons including strong seasonal storms, trees, squirrels, downed power lines, equipment failure and accidents.
If your power is off:
- Check your home's breaker panel (and any outdoor disconnects) to make sure the outage is not due to a tripped breaker.
- Call your neighbors to see if their power is off. This will help you determine if the problem exists within your home, or on our lines.
- If you determine the problem is outside your home, call Itasca-Mantrap. Do not assume that others have reported the outage.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Food should keep for up to 48 hours in a freezer, if the door remains closed. If the outage persists, cover your refrigerator or freezer with a blanket, make arrangements to store food at another location, or purchase dry ice.
- Turn off all electrical appliances that were on when the power went off, especially heat pumps, air conditioners or electric heat. But leave a light on so you will know when power is restored.
Please be prepared for extended outages:
- Make sure one of the phones in your home is not a cordless phone as these use electricity and therefore do not work during power outages
- Use a battery powered flashlight, not candles.
- Keep a battery operated radio handy to listen for outage information and updates
- Turn off electrical equipment you were using before the power went out
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Food should keep for up to 48 hours in a freezer, if the door remains closed. If the outage persists, cover your refrigerator or freezer with a blanket, make arrangements to store food at another location, or purchase dry ice.
- Essential supplies: flashlight, batteries, radio, extra supply of water, food.
- Turn off and unplug your computer if you were using it. Buy a surge protector to protect the machine when power comes back on.
Always stay away from downed power lines.