Jemena

Preparing for emergency events

Make a plan and be prepared

You never know if or when a problem will strike, so identifying your actions beforehand increases your safety, lessens your anxieties during an event, and alleviates some of your fears.

Learn what hazards can cause disasters where you live. Determine your family’s needs and how you can survive these hazards. Consider special needs populations such as people with disabilities and the elderly in your planning.

  • Develop and practice a communications plan
  • Would you know what to do should phone lines shut down?
  • Do you have the emergency number in your mobile?
  • Do you have a smart phone or laptop that allows you to access the internet?
  • Develop and practice an evacuation plan should you need to leave home

Build an emergency kit

An emergency kit is a simple way you can prepare for times when the power goes out. Design easy-to-carry kits to meet your family's needs, with the following items:

  • Flashlights and fresh batteries
  • A battery-powered radio
  • A battery-powered or wind-up alarm clock
  • A supply of bottled water
  • Blankets, bedding or sleeping bags
  • A first aid kit
  • Special items for infants, seniors or family members with special needs
  • Phone list with emergency contacts such as key family members, police, hospitals

Protect your food

  • Plan ahead how you can keep foods cold. Buy some freeze-pak inserts and keep them frozen. Buy a cooler. Freeze water in plastic jugs or containers or store bags of ice
  • Know in advance where you can buy block ice
  • Develop emergency freezer-sharing plans with friends in another part of town or in a nearby area
  • Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed - open them only when absolutely necessary. Food will stay frozen for 36-48 hours in a fully loaded freezer if you keep the door closed
  • A half-full freezer will generally keep food frozen for 24 hours. If you have time in advance of the storm, fill up your freezer by filling plastic bottles with water and freezing them

Gas – always treat any gas leak as a potential lethal risk

Call Jemena gas outages and emergency on 131 909 if:

  • There is a strong smell of gas in your home
  • You can smell gas coming from your meter or cylinder
  • You notice damage to gas pipelines in the community

Protect electronic equipment

  • Purchase electronic equipment with built-in protection or a battery-powered back-up system
  • Use electrical surge suppressors or arresters on all sensitive electronic equipment. Most are designed to be plugged into a wall outlet
  • Plug computers and other sensitive electronic equipment into a separate, grounded circuit to isolate them from fluctuations caused when a major appliance starts, such as a room air conditioner or refrigerator
  • Consider a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) for temporary battery back-up power for sensitive electronic equipment
  • Makes sure all important data is backed up regularly

Stay alert for downed lines

If you see a downed power line, call us immediately on 131 626.

Stay away from any downed line. Assume it's live and dangerous, and warn children to stay away and notify an adult. Downed lines do not always spark, burn or arc. Never assume any downed wire is harmless. Objects such as metal fences and water in contact with power lines could be energized and lethal - STAY AWAY.

Protect your home and belongings

Turn off all major appliances, but leave a light on. That way, you can avoid a circuit overload and another outage that may result when power is restored to all appliances at once.