Oncor wants you prepared for the worst

This month marks the fifth annual National Preparedness Month. Oncor wants to help all Texans prepare for the worst by educating them on what to do to prevent electrical-related injuries. The best way you can be prepared is through educating yourself and your family.

Safety is OncorÂ’s No. 1 priority, and it should be one of yours, too, during National Preparedness Month and all year. In honor of that, here are OncorÂ’s top three electrical safety tips from its year-round Lifetime of Safety campaign to follow and share with your family:

1. Make a storm safety kit — Yes, we know it's September, but bad weather can still happen. Additionally, these kits are good for whenever an electrical outage occurs, whether it is storm-related or not.

Storm safety kits should include a combination of the following: flashlight, bottled water, radio, pen and paper, extra batteries and a storm safety card from www.oncor.com/safety. Other than the card, most of these items can be found in hardware stores.

2. Perform the Lifetime of Safety Home Safety Checklist, an electrical safety home audit — Going through this safety checklist, which consists of a checklist of common indoor and outdoor electrical hazards, can point out potential electrical dangers that need to be addressed before they become problems. Many problems can be fixed by the homeowner, although some may require a qualified electrician.

Visit this month’s Lifetime of Safety Web page at www.oncor.com/safety to view Oncor’s audit, located in the “Additional Lifetime of Safety Resources” box.

3. Beware of power lines — Contact with power lines can seriously injure or even kill someone. Teach your family, including children, to beware of power lines. If you see a downed power line, leave the area and call 9-1-1. In addition to the downed line potentially being electrified, anything touching the power line, such as a tree branch, could also be electrified. Do not touch the power line or anything else touching it.

If your vehicle comes into contact with a power line, it and the ground around it may be electrified. It is safer to stay in the vehicle and wait until Oncor arrives to shut off power. Only leave if you are in imminent danger, then jump free of the vehicle, as far as you can, and hop to safety with both feet together.