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Picture this: you just finished cleaning your kitchen for the night and are going to start your dishwasher when suddenly, your lights flicker off and your house goes dark. You start to think of everything you have to do – including report your outage to BWL.  

Hopefully, you’ve taken steps to be prepared just in case, but if not, here are some tips and tricks below for how to stay prepared during a power outage.  

1. Emergency Kit: Put together an emergency kit that contains essential items such as a flashlight, non-perishable food, water, snacks, blankets, medications, a portable phone charger and more.  
2. Back-up power: Consider investing in a generator or other power sources to keep essential devices running.  
3. Preserve Food: Avoid opening your refrigerator or freezer to maintain the cold temperatures. A stocked freezer can keep food frozen for around 48 hours if kept shut.  
4. Stay Up To Date: Continue checking the weather and outage updates through a radio or mobile device. You can watch for restoration updates on our outage map at lbwl.com/outagecenter. 
5. Unplug Appliances: Avoid power surge damage when the power comes back on by unplugging major appliances and electronics. 
6. Community Resources: Stay up to date on community shelters or cooling centers that provide relief during long outages.  

By being prepared and sharing a plan with your family, you can minimize the impact of a power outage and keep your home safe if the situation does happen. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for outage updates, and get more tips at lbwl.com/ready. 

And remember, BWL has a new power outage number (866-710-8222) and texting code (295688 – BWLOUT)! Scan the QR code above to add the number directly to your contacts.