Hurricane season officially starts on June 1. While we don’t usually get the worst of the season here in North Carolina until later in the year, we do get our fair share of summer thunderstorms now. Follow these preparation tips to make sure you’re ready the next time a storm is in the forecast.
Create a go-to emergency kit
Help keep your family safe by creating an emergency kit. Make sure you keep your kit in a safe, easy-to-access place and don’t forget to replace supplies once you use them so your kit is always ready.
We recommend filling your kit with:
- Basic first aid items like bandages and medication
- Flashlights and extra batteries
- Drinking water (a supply of 1 gallon per person, per day for at least 3 days)
- Shelf-stable foods like protein bars and canned soups
- Hand-crank radio
- Whistle that can be used to signal for help
- Manual can opener
- Hand sanitizer
- Power banks for cell phones
- Battery-operated fan
Opt in to outage alerts
Opt in to outage alertsIf you lose power during a storm, make sure you get the latest updates from your co-op. Sign up for outage notifications now so you’re prepared later. You can opt in to text alerts by texting pemc to 800.222.3107.
Then, if you’re experiencing an outage, you can text #status to get the latest information available. You can also report an outage by texting #out to 800.222.3107.
In order to participate in this program, we need your cell phone number on file. Call us at 800.222.3107 or visit SmartHub at pemc.smarthub.coop to update or verify your contact information.
As your cooperative, you can have peace of mind that we’ll always be ready to respond when bad weather strikes! Make sure to follow along on our website and social media accounts for the latest updates about storms and outages.