SWEPCO Offers 5 Safety Tips for Flooding

May 5, 2022 - With heavy rains and flooding reported across the region, it’s important to keep these five safety tips in mind:

1. Saturated soils and gusty winds can bring down trees and potentially power lines, causing major safety hazards. Treat all downed power lines as energized and dangerous! Stay away and keep kids and pets away. Report the hazard immediately to SWEPCO by calling 1-888-218-3919 or call 911.
2. Do not touch water or anything in contact with water when a downed power line is nearby.
3. Don’t go into any room or basement if water is covering appliance cords that are plugged in or if water has reached wall outlets.
4. Do not walk through moving water. Six inches of moving water can knock over an adult.
5. Do not drive into flooded areas. A foot of water will float many vehicles. Two feet of rushing water can carry away cars, SUVs, and pickup trucks.

SWEPCO customers can report power outages by:

  • Visiting SWEPCO.com
  • Through SWEPCO’s mobile app, which is available in the App Store and Google Play
  • Calling 1-888-216-3523.

For updates on outages, customers can sign up for text alerts at SWEPCO.com/Alerts or check SWEPCO.com/OutageMap.

In cases where power goes out during storms, wet conditions can also make it difficult for heavy equipment to go off road when restoring power, causing the need for specialized off-road equipment that may slow the restoration process.