Floods and Electricity What steps should you take when your home floods? Floodwaters are very destructive, but when they come in contact with electricity, they can be deadly, says Kosciusko REMC Energy Advisor Carol Presley Ousley. That’s why local residents need to be extremely careful when entering flooded areas or working with electric appliances or other devices once the floodwaters recede. Kosciusko REMC offers this advice for dealing with flooding and electricity: • Do not step into a flooded basement or any other room where floodwaters may be in contact with electrical wall outlets, appliances or power cords, because of the risk for electrocution (and because the floodwater may be contaminated by sewage or chemicals). • If you cannot reach your circuit breaker box without standing in floodwater, do not attempt to turn the power off. Instead, call KREMC or your power company, and ask them to disconnect power at your meter. • Stay away from downed power lines, even if they appear to be dead. Report them to KREMC, or your power company or local fire department. • Do not use any electrical equipment or touch wires or switches when you’re standing in water or wet areas. Keep all electrical equipment at least 10 feet away from wet areas. • If you’ve been forced to evacuate your home, stay out until local authorities tell you that it’s safe to return. When you do enter your home, be very careful, because objects will have moved around, the floors are likely to be slippery, and there may been hidden damage to floors and walls. After the flooding has ended, KREMC urges you to continue to be careful with any electrical equipment that has been in contact with the floodwaters • Replace any circuit breakers that have been submerged. • Have an electrician check any appliances that have been in contact with water before you test or use it. Otherwise, you may receive a serious shock or burn out any motors or similar components. • Any insulated appliances, such as refrigerators and ovens, should have the insulation replaced if it became wet in the flood. • Toasters and other appliances used to prepare food should be dried completely. Then thoroughly clean and disinfect all the parts that come in contact with food, and allow them to dry again before using them. Special care should also be taken with gas furnaces or stoves, wood stoves, and any other devices that use combustion. If you smell natural gas, leave your home and contact your gas utility. Do not attempt to use your gas furnace or stove until it has been inspected by a service professional. Be sure that other devices that use combustion are also inspected to ensure that they are not releasing any deadly carbon monoxide gas into your home. Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, so be sure to have equipment checked by a trained professional.