Siskiyou County Emergency Preparedness Guide - Power Outages

Extended power outages may impact the whole community and the economy. A power outage is when electricity service goes out unexpectedly, potentially for hours or days.

A power outage may:

• Disrupt communications, water and transportation.
• Prevent the use of medical devices.
• Close retail businesses, grocery stores, gas stations, ATM's, banks, and other critical services.
• Cause food spoilage and water contamination.

With periods of extreme heat becoming more common in California, power companies may find it necessary to implement planned power outages to mitigate the risk of potential fire. Follow these guidelines to help ensure the safety of you and your family during a power outage:

Food Safety:

• Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible to maintain the cold temperature. Refrigerators generally will keep food cold for about 4 hours if unopened.
• A full freezer will keep the temperature for approximately 48 hours (24 hours if it is half-full) if the door remains closed.
• Once power is restored, perishable food such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, and eggs that are not kept adequately refrigerated or frozen may cause illness if consumed, even when they are thoroughly cooked. When in Doubt, Throw it out!
• Throw out these foods:
  • Food with unusual odor, color, or texture
  • Cans or food containers that are bulging, open, or dented
  • Food not in waterproof containers or cans
  • Food canned at home
  • Food in cardboard containers (including juice, milk, and baby formula)
  • Food in containers with screw caps, snap lids, crimped caps, twist caps, flip tops, and snap-tops
• Thawed frozen food that still has ice crystals may be refrozen. However, when in doubt, throw it out!

Home Safety:

• If your home has a security system, consult your owner's manual or contact the service you are subscribed to. You may need to disengage the system before or while your service is interrupted.
• If you typically use a garage door opener, make sure you have a house key to regain entry into your home, in case your service is still out when you return.
• Know how to manually operate your garage door. If power is lost, your garage door opener will not work.

Home Electronics:

• Use surge suppressors to protect sensitive electronic equipment, such as computers. If possible, unplug all sensitive equipment before any planned outages.
• If you forget to unplug your electronics before the outage, be sure to unplug the equipment prior to service being restored to avoid surge damage.
• If you must leave your home while the power is out, double-check that all heat producing appliances, such as stoves, irons and curling irons are unplugged.
• Make sure you have flashlights, a battery-powered radio and fresh batteries in an easily accessible area.