February 12,2018
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, we lifted these tips from the Wyckoff Police Department Facebook page and thought they were god advice given that the ground hog saw his shadow .
Tips to weather a storm:
• Maintain a distance of at least 50 feet from downed wires and anything they are in contact with including puddles of water and fences. Supervise your children so that they are not in the vicinity of the downed wire and keep pets on a leash. Assume all downed wires are live and that touching them poses a risk of serious injury or death.
• If a fallen wire is draped over a car, do not approach the car to make rescue attempts. Remain a safe distance away, and try to keep the occupant of the vehicle calm. If possible, emergency personnel should handle the situation.
• Stock up on non-perishable food, bottled water, manual can opener, baby supplies and pet food. Set your refrigerator and freezer controls to their coldest settings. Fill the bathtub with water.
• Have emergency equipment within reach — portable radio, flashlights, spare batteries, first aid kit, cell phone and important medications. Update your personal list of emergency phone numbers.
• If you experience a power outage, don’t assume that the power company automatically knows about it or that someone else will report it. The more information you can provide, the more it can help.
• Remember: if the base station of your cordless phone plugs into the wall, your phone will be unusable during a power outage.
• If a family member relies on electrically operated medical devices, secure a portable generator or make alternate arrangements for care.
• Keep at least a half-tank of gas in your car. Consider having extra cash on-hand, in case ATM machines don’t work.
• Learn how to manually open and close any electrically powered garage door, security door or gate.