Tampa Bay Injury Attorney Blog
As of Tuesday morning, more than 220,000 people in Florida are still left without power. Hillsborough County and Pinellas County has the most outages, according to the Florida Power Outage Tracker, with Hillsborough County still seeing more than 92,000 outages and Pinellas County seeing more than 40,000 outages.
Manatee County is not far behind with more than 29,000 outages and Sarasota County follows with more than 22,000 outages still.
Florida Power and Light Company is working around the clock to get power restored to Floridians, according to reports. They have dispatched 20,000 workers from 41 states as well as Canada to assist with restoring power.
There are several risks that could jeopardize your health and safety during a power outage. Follow these tips to deal with a power outage.
- Never operate a generator or any other type of gasoline-powered engine inside your house. If inhaled, carbon monoxide (CO), an odorless and colorless gas, can quickly cause disease or even death. The use of alternate fuel or electricity sources for cooking, heating, and cooling during power outages during emergencies like hurricanes or floods can lead to the buildup of CO in a home, garage, or camper, poisoning the occupants and any pets.
- Recognize the symptoms and warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. CO exposure might result in unconsciousness and even death. Headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, weakness, chest discomfort, and disorientation are the most typical signs of carbon monoxide poisoning. Alcohol consumption or sleep can cause CO poisoning to kill a person before they ever show symptoms. Call 911 or your local Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222 if someone exhibits symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Heat and cool your house safely. Never use a gas stove or oven to heat your home. If it is too hot or too cold, take shelter with friends or at a communal shelter.
- During a power outage, try to keep the doors to the refrigerator and freezer closed.
A full freezer will keep food safe for 48 hours (24 hours if half-full) without power if the door is not opened. If the power goes out and you do not open the refrigerator, food will stay safe for up to four hours. When the power goes off for 4 hours or more, get rid of all perishable foods from your refrigerator, including meat, chicken, and other fowl, fish, eggs, and leftovers. If any perishable items in your freezer have thawed, throw them out immediately. - Water filtration systems might not be operating to their full capacity when the power goes out. Bottled, boiled, or treated water is safe to use for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene. You can learn how to make water safe during a power outage here.
- To reduce the risk of fire, use battery-operated lanterns and flashlights instead of torches, candles, or gas lanterns. If you must use candles, place them far from anything that could catch fire. Always stay close to lit candles. Make sure everyone in your household is familiar with how to use a fire extinguisher and keep one on hand. You can brush up on your fire extinguisher knowledge here.
- Never touch a downed powerline. Do not drive across standing water if there are downed power lines. Dial 911 or request immediate medical assistance if you think someone experienced an electric shock.
As many Florida communities still wait for the power to return their homes, it is important to stay safe. If our Florida Hurricane and Storm Damage Claims Lawyers at Whittel & Melton can help you in any way, please contact us online or call 866-608-5529. After your power has been restored and you can safely assess any damage that has been done to your home, please remember to submit your claim to your insurance provider quickly and follow our other tips here. We are happy to help with any claims issues that may arise.