Emergency Ready: Simple steps to protect your family during disasters

Preparing a go-bag, knowing community resources, and practicing an emergency plan can reduce risk during evacuations. These small actions can make a significant difference in protecting your loved ones.

Brandpoint - Are you prepared in case of a local emergency? From severe storms to wildfires and floods, it's critical that you and your loved ones have the knowledge and resources to weather these and other disasters. This National Preparedness Month, take small steps to prepare your family for big emergencies.

Don't know where to start? T-Mobile knows how important it is for families to stay in touch with each other and reach emergency services. Over the past few years, the mobile provider has added resilience tools like AI-driven network automation, satellite-powered emergency messaging and priority service for first responders. In addition to these investments in technology and resources to support community connectivity during disasters, T-Mobile offers a few simple steps you can take now to prepare your family for a future emergency.

1. Save local emergency numbers

In a crisis, it's vital that you're able to reach your family and emergency services as quickly as possible. Look up and save important local emergency numbers including police and fire, poison control and state highway patrol in your contacts.

2. Enable Wireless Emergency Alerts

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are public safety messages sent by local, state, tribal and federal Alert Originators to provide critical information and help keep you safe and aware of dangerous weather and other emergencies in the area. Check that alerts are enabled on your phone under the notification settings.

Photo: Štefan Štefančík/Unsplash

If your phone supports satellite texting, consider adding T-Satellite with Starlink. It lets you send and receive texts (including to 911) and enables location sharing when towers are down almost anywhere in the U.S. if you can see the sky. And anyone with a compatible phone, even if you're not a T-Satellite subscriber, can still receive WEAs.

3. Conserve phone battery with low-power mode

If the power goes out during a disaster or weather event, it can be hours to days until it's restored. Turn on Low Power/Battery Saver mode, dim your screen, and limit use to essential calls and texts to stretch your charge.

4. Turn on Wi-Fi Calling

If a cell tower goes down, Wi-Fi Calling lets you place calls and texts over any available Wi-Fi, including home internet and public hotspots. Most providers support it. Look in Settings > Phone (or Connections) > Wi-Fi Calling.

5. Prepare a go-bag

During an evacuation, don't risk forgetting essentials. Stay prepared by packing a go bag with prescriptions and over-the-counter medications, first-aid supplies, a flashlight and batteries, a radio, chargers, printed maps, a jacket and sneakers, copies of key documents, water and nonperishable food.

6. Make a family emergency plan

Your family may not all be together when disaster strikes. To be prepared, make a family emergency plan and go over it together. Include a designated meeting point, a list of emergency contacts, a household communication plan and evacuation routes. Keep a printed copy in a sealed bag.

7. Know your community resources

During a disaster, connection and community are critical. Make sure you know where you can find support and check with your city and county for emergency response services.

It takes teamwork to hold communities together during a disaster. That's why T-Mobile deploys community support vehicles with robust Wi-Fi and high-capacity charging to neighborhoods during emergency events. Whether you're a customer or not, you can rely on this service to keep your community connected when it matters most.

Stay connected, stay safe

This month, take these seven small steps that can make a big difference during a disaster. To find more emergency tips and learn about what T-Mobile is doing in communities like yours, visit T-Mobile.com/News/Emergency-Response.

Helpful hints to lower your power bill this winter

To save money on your heating bill remember to close your fireplace damper if you’re not going to be using it and consider investing in a glass screen that lets heat radiate but prevents warm air from getting vented out the chimney

Photo: Pavel Danilyuk/PEXELS

NAPSI — Now is the time for New York residents to make sure their homes are as energy efficient as possible when storms and cold temperatures hit and in the rare event of a power outage.

Here are some simple steps you can take to help keep monthly power bills down:

Short-term actions

Schedule an annual maintenance appointment for your furnace, boiler, or heat pump. They should be checked, cleaned, and repaired annually. This will:

•Improve efficiency
•Find small problems before they become big problems
•Extend the life of your furnace

Bleed radiators. Letting out air that gets trapped in your heating system will heat your home more effectively and reduce energy bills. If you hear pipes banging or gurgling, it’s a sign your system needs to be bled.

Service chimneys. Also, close your fireplace damper if you’re not going to be using it and consider investing in a glass screen that lets heat radiate but prevents warm air from getting vented out the chimney.

Weatherstrip doors and windows. A removable door draft stopper can make a big difference.

Make sure air vents aren’t blocked. If furniture or curtains block your vents, the furnace works harder than it should to warm the house, driving fuel costs up. If you really like the position of furniture covering a vent, consider a low-cost vent extender.

Conserve & Manage Energy Use

Keep the thermostat between 68 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit while you’re awake, and lower when you’re asleep or away.

Add insulation to walls and pipes. This is a very inexpensive way to reduce your energy bill. Focus on your attic because heat rises, and this will keep heat in your living spaces. Also pay attention to electrical outlets, anywhere utilities enter the house, pipes (to prevent freezing and bursting), and appliances such as water heaters.

Adjust ceiling fans. Run fans clockwise in winter to push rising warm air down, potentially enabling you to lower the thermostat. In the summer, run fans counterclockwise to create windchill.

Unplug unused electronics. Also, consider switching to LED light bulbs, which are more energy efficient. Putting lights on a timer is both easy and cost-efficient.

Put rugs on hardwood floors. This provides a layer of insulation and can warm up a room — both literally and figuratively.

Open the curtains during the day and close them at night. Letting the sun in — even the weaker sunlight of winter — can help naturally warm a room, while drawing shades and drapes at night helps keep heat in and prevents drafts.

Thinking long-term

Get a professional energy audit. The auditor will ask about your bills and check your home to make sure it’s properly sealed.

If you’re income eligible, this audit could be free — along with additional discounted or no-cost services such as insulation and air sealing upgrades, new appliances and heating or cooling systems and more. Find out more at https://www.nationalgridus.com/NY-Home/Bill-Help/Energy-Savings-Programs.

Consider zoned heating. Target heating and cooling to where it’s needed.

Switch to a smart thermostat. A programmable thermostat lets you fine tune when your furnace runs, letting you pre-set it at a lower temperature while you sleep or are away and have it turn up just before you come home.

Just in case

Big storms happen, as do power outages.

National Grid is working to reduce power outages, which involves everything from the simple (trimming trees around lines) to the complex (installing smart meters and technology that automatically locates and isolates outages and restores service as quickly as possible). To make sure you and your family are prepared if the power does go out, do the following:

Keep a gallon of water per person per day in an easily accessible, air-tight container

Have three days of non-perishable food on hand (including for your pets)

Put together a first aid kit

Make sure batteries work in flashlights, lanterns, radios etc.

Keep matches, candles, flashlights, etc., where you can find them easily

Fully charge phones

Have extra medication at the ready

Fill your bathtub with water (for toilet flushing)

Turn refrigerator and freezer to coldest settings, keep doors closed as much as possible

Gas up the car

If you have a generator, make sure it’s at least 20 feet away from the outside wall of your home. Never operate it in an enclosed space, employ GFI protection, and use the proper cord.

To learn more about the services and advice National Grid offers customers related to safety, reliability, affordability, and storm and power outage preparation, visit www.nationalgridus.com.

Are you ready for when your power goes out?

With people still working, learning and shopping from home, everyone must prepare earlier for outages that accompany severe weather.

(NAPSI) -- More Americans suffered extended power outages in 2020 than any year since Superstorm Sandy struck the New York area in 2012, according to Generac, owners of Power Outage Central, a real-time outage tracking service that monitors outages throughout the United States.

Earlier this month, there were three areas in Champaign-Urbana without electrical service thanks to a set of Mylar birthday balloons that came in contact with power lines.

Photo: Artem Podrez/Pexels

Mylar balloons are metallic and conduct electricity, resulting in surges and shorts that can create power outages, start fires, and cause significant damage to the electric grid. Approximately 1,200 Ameren customers were without power for three hours.

Back in November of last year, power was out for about three hours in the south part of Champaign and another area covering Campustown. In eastern Urbana, about 180 customers were without power at the same time. Over 1,500 customers were without power during the incident.

"In 2020, more than one out of three Americans experienced a power outage, and the U.S. power grid suffered more outage hours than it has in years," said Russ Minick, chief marketing officer for Wisconsin-based Generac. "With people still working, learning and shopping from home, everyone must prepare earlier for outages that accompany severe weather."

Outages are statistically much more common than many other threats to the home, according to Generac’s data. In fact, while about 12% of homes are at risk of flooding according to the First Street Foundation’s flood database1, every home is at risk of losing power. Unlike with floods, however, there are multiple ways to safeguard against loss of electrical power.

"There are three key paths to protecting power supply, said Simon Allen, president of Allied Energy, a backup power solution provider in San Diego, Calif. "These include portable generators, which are a short-term solution; home standby generators; and solar energy storage systems. Solar energy storage systems and home standby generators are permanently installed and can provide secure sources of power for longer periods."

Each system requires advance planning, including local permitting and installation, said Allen, but secure power is worth it.

"Life gets very primitive and dangerous when the power is out. With outages lasting longer and occurring more often, all against the backdrop of people working and learning from home, our customers are turning to Generac home standby generators and PWRcell battery storage systems. Effectively, they’re making their homes a sanctuary against Mother Nature’s threats."

Picking the correct solution varies for every homeowner, said Stephen Cruise of Generator Supercenter, a Texas-based provider of power solutions. "A generator will run nearly indefinitely on propane or natural gas," he said. "With correct power management, a solar energy storage system can also power the whole home for extended periods. It comes down to preference, local codes and budget. The best place to start is finding a great local installer who can help make the decision easy."

"Authorized dealers and installers know local codes and are factory trained," said Minick. "They’re experts in local needs and can provide a one-stop solution for every homeowner."

All the resources needed to acquire and install backup power are available at www.generac.com. Prices fit most budgets and vary depending on factors such as the size of home, the electricity needed for backup and preference for solar or generator-based options.