Northwest Iowa — We may not have had a statewide tornado drill this year, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have a severe storm season.
The people at the power company for Sheldon and a number of other locations in northwest Iowa wants you to prepare ahead-of-time for possible storm-related, and other power outages.
MidAmerican Energy has published several power outage preparation tips.
They give us this list of items that you should have available:
| · Flashlights |
| · Battery-powered radio |
| · Extra batteries for flashlights and radio |
| · A three-day supply of nonperishable food and water for everyone in your household. Not sure if your food is safe after a power outage? Check out this food safety guide. |
| · Manual can opener |
| · Blankets and warm sweaters (because outages happen in the winter too) |
| · First-aid supplies |
| · Extra cash (in case local ATMs or points-of-sale are down in an extended outage) |
MidAmerican advises people to plan ahead. They say you should store your safety kit in a place that’s easy to find in the dark and make sure everyone in your family knows where it is kept. They also suggest that you review with children what to do if an outage happens while they are with a sitter or home alone.
They also remind you to make arrangements for medical equipment. If you or someone in your care has a condition that requires continuous or special medication or life support systems, or if your medications require constant refrigeration, you can contact your doctor and enroll in a program such as MidAmerican’s “Life Support” program.
For more information on how to stay safe during a power outage, click here.
