Spring has officially arrived and, as every Midwesterner knows, that means storm season isn’t far behind.
At Liberty, our crews train to respond throughout the year, taking steps to protect and harden our system in anticipation of severe weather. As a customer, there are steps you can take so that you and your loved ones can be prepared for extreme weather – before, during and after.
Before the storm
- Download Liberty’s My Account app to stay informed through our outage map and enroll in email or text notifications.
- Create a basic emergency plan and share it with all members of your household. Be sure to include evacuation routes, shelter areas, and a meeting point outside the home.
- Program the following emergency numbers into your mobile phone:
- Liberty: 1-855-644-8134
- Other utility companies
- Red Cross
- Create an emergency preparedness kit with essentials your family may need. Click here to download an extreme weather checklist.
During the storm
- Get inside. In the event of a tornado, get underground if possible; if there’s not a basement, get to the lowest floor and move as far as you can into the middle of the building.
- Put on closed-toe, soled shoes to protect your feet in the event you need to walk through debris.
- Stay away from windows and doors. High winds and hail can cause glass to shatter.
- If you experience an outage, use the My Account app to report it and view updates on our outage map.
After the storm
- Stay away from downed power lines, which could still be energized, and call 911 and Liberty at 1-800-206-2300. If your vehicle comes in contact with a power line, stay inside and immediately call for help.
- Do not attempt to drive or walk through floodwaters. Even if the water appears shallow, it could be covering a roadway that has been washed away or a downed line.
- In the event of an outage, do not wire a generator directly to your breaker fuse box, as it could back feed on power lines and cause serious injury or death to teams working to restore power.
- Take photos or video to document any property damage to your home or property, then contact your insurance company.
Click here to learn more about how you can be ready before, during, and after a severe storm.