Tropical Storm Erika

Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative (SVEC) continues to closely monitor T.S. Erika and the impacts it may have in our service area. 

“In anticipation of T.S. Erika, SVEC has activated its Storm Plan to ensure prompt, orderly, and safe restoration in the event of severe weather and outages”, according to Baynard Ward, Manager of Community Relations for SVEC. 

SVEC urges both residential and business members to use this time for preparation by making sure disaster supply kits are stocked and identifying storm responsibilities.

Outage Reporting

• To report an outage, please call 800-752-0025.  
• Record or write down your Account # in a location that is readily available and easy to access, as this is important when reporting an outage.
• Outages can be viewed on our Outage Status Map located on our website and mobile site.  Updates regarding outages will also be provided through media and our Facebook page.

 Prioritizing Restoration

• SVEC encourages those with medical necessities to make contingency plans by contacting family members or the County Emergency Management Agency.
• Please be patient as outages could last 2-3 days if we experience severe weather.  SVEC crews will work as fast as safety allows.   Before individual lines can be worked on, SVEC crews must first repair larger lines that bring power to the greatest number of people.
• After that, power is restored on a systematic basis.  We take into consideration places where the largest amounts of customers connected to any given substation can be restored in the smallest amount of time (hub and spoke).  

Safety

Safety is first for our employees and members – below are some tips to stay safe during a storm.

• Stay away from all downed lines.  Warn others to do the same and contact SVEC at 800-752-0025 or a local law enforcement agency if downed lines are spotted. 
• Beware of downed lines that are touching a vehicle. 
• Stay away from the vehicle and the line. 
• Do not drive over power lines lying on the road and do not drive under low hanging lines. 
• Keep children and pets away from downed lines.  Always assume a downed power line is live.  Do not attempt to remove tree limbs or anything else caught in power lines – not even an animal. 
• If your power is off, make sure you turn off your appliances to avoid any potential safety hazards when the power is restored. 
• Keep freezer doors closed and sealed.  Well-filled freezers keep most foods frozen two to three days if the door is kept closed. 
• Do not connect portable generators to your household electrical wiring.  This can cause serious injury to you and to SVEC employees working on the lines in your neighborhood.  Connect only essential appliances – such as freezers and refrigerators – directly to the generator. 
• If there is damage to your meter box or the pole on top of your meter box, you must first have an electrician make repairs before SVEC can restore your service. 
• If there is flooding in your home or business, SVEC may be unable to restore electric service until the building is inspected by city or county code officials. 
• Charge cell phones, pagers and other electronic devices before the storm hits. 
• Please be patient.  SVEC crews will work as fast as safety allows.  Before neighborhood lines can be worked on, SVEC crews must first repair larger lines that bring power to neighborhoods.