Winter Storm Advisory
At Navasota Valley Electric Cooperative, one of our goals is to serve our members while also providing a safe workplace as we manage our day-to-day operations. However, like many others in our area, we are taking steps to prepare for the winter weather and we are also encouraging everyone around us to be prepared.
Forecasters are predicting frigid temperatures to arrive Sunday. Our service are is under a Winter Storm Advisory Sunday-Monday.
Forecasters are warning that weather conditions could cause power outages.
At this time our crews are ready to respond to any outages that may occur.
For your safety, please stay away from any downed power lines.
An important consideration regarding evacuating your family is to consider that you may be without creature comforts for an extended period of time, which could lead to serious hardships.
Because this is a winter storm, you should prepare to properly heat your home while you are without electricity. The source might include a propane heater, a wood burning stove, or a fireplace. Make sure you have ample firewood or propane for heating.
If you will be heating with wood, have enough cut wood available for weeks and store the wood in a dry area. Make sure you have a clean chimney to avoid a chimney fire. If time permits, inspect your chimney for cracks to make sure smoke does not enter your home or attic.
If you will be using propane, make sure your propane tank is full. Make sure gas heaters are vented properly to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. Make sure gas heaters are clean and operating well. Also, please remember to remove flammable objects that are near gas heaters. As a further safety precaution, please make sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are working and have fresh batteries.
If you are using a whole-home generator, it must have a transfer switch, installed by a licensed electrician, to prevent the generator from back feeding into our electrical system.
For the safety of everyone, if you are using a portable electrical generator, do not tie it into your circuit panel. An improperly wired generator can send power into downed lines causing serious injury or death to you, a family member, a neighbor, or one of our repair crews. A generator can only be tied into a circuit panel if a licensed electrician has installed a transfer switch.
If you will be using your own electrical generator, make sure you have ample fuel for the length of the power outage.
Please store your fuel in a safe place away from the generator or any heat source so there is not an accidental fire.
If you run extension cords from your generator to your appliances, make sure your extension cords meet code.
Do not attempt to run too many appliances off of one generator because this could cause an overload and fire.
If you rely on an electric stove or microwave for cooking, you need to consider what your options will be for food preparation. If you use a propane camping stove, please be aware that it may also put out harmful carbon monoxide fumes.
Although we post service updates to social media, we do not monitor social media for reports of outages. All outages must be reported by phone or text message.
To report an outage or a downed power line, you can call 1-800-443-9462.
We will post any updates to our website at www.navasotavalley.com.