Plan now for unexpected outages

With a little planning you can be prepared for an unexpected power outage.

Severe weather events and storms can occur at any time, even during the summer months. Now is a great time to make sure you have everything you need should the weather cause a power outage. Make sure you have:

• A torch and extra batteries.
• Either a fully charged cell phone, a landline phone that doesn’t require electricity, or if your landline phone is supplied by fibre you may need a UPS or battery backup.
• A supply of water that isn’t dependent on an electric pump.
• A BBQ or gas cooker.
• A supply of matches or a lighter.

If a member of your household is medically dependent on electricity, in addition to making sure you have the items above you should have an emergency plan in place. Your plan should include:

• An established network of people you can call on for help and their contact details.
• Knowledge of your medical equipment:

» Does it have an audible “no power” alarm that will alert you to a power failure?

» Does it have battery back-up or a standby source of power and for how long?

» Do you know how to use the backup or standby equipment and are you confident that you could operate the equipment in an emergency?

• An evacuation plan that includes where you will go, how you will get there, a pre-packed bag with the things you will need and if necessary arrangements for your pet.

Remember to notify family and friends who might be concerned for you.

• Instructions on how to manually operate an electrically operated garage door - if you need to evacuate, you may need to manually operate an electrically operated garage door to do so.

Because the power can be restored at any time after an unexpected outage, treat all lines, electrical installations and wiring as live during an outage.

If your power goes off turn off any sensitive electronic equipment such as entertainment systems, computers, and washing machines at the wall. This helps protect them in the event of voltage fluctuations when the power is live again.

To report a power outage, damage to the power network, or a public safety issue on the network phone 0800 508 100.

Check our website for information on outages www.networktasman.co.nz