Public Safety, Power Compay Officials Offer Extreme Cold Advice; Governor Declares State Of Emergency

January 15, 2009

Officials are stressing safety as North Escambia residents try to stay warm, and Florida Governor Charlie Crist has issued a state of emergency order related to the cold. Overnight lows are forecast to near 17 Friday night.

The governor’s order implements standard state emergency planning and response plans; it also relieves restrictions on trucks transporting Florida produce to market. The order was issued due to the impending disaster to Florida crops from the cold that is forecast to reach all the way into the central part of the state.

Escambia County’s Department of Public Safety offers tips on the “Five P’s” of cold weather:

  • Protect people – Protect all exposed skin and dress in multiple layers. Shelters will be open at the Salvation Army Lodge – 1310 N. “S” Street in Pensacola and the Waterfront Rescue Mission – 16 W. Main Street in Pensacola. There are no announced shelters open in North Escambia.
  • Protect plants – Cover any exposed plants with a sheet to protect them from the low temperatures.
  • Protect pets – Provide shelter for outdoor pets.
  • Protect exposed pipes – Wrap or cover exposed water pipes and outdoor pumps (irrigation, pool).
  • Practice fire safety – Practice space heater and open flame safety. Make sure smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are present and operating correctly. When using space heater indoors, use only those that are approved for indoor use. Cold weather is usually accompanied by low humidity creating fire danger conditions. Outdoor burning is strongly discouraged by public safety officials.

Gulf Power Company offers the following tips for staying safe — and warm — during the extremely cold weather:

Set your thermostat to 68 degrees or lower to conserve energy.

  • Reverse the direction of your ceiling fans so they rotate clockwise as you look up at it in order to force warm air down from the ceiling. Just flip the switch on the motor to reverse the direction the blades were turning during the summer.
  • During the middle of the day, open blinds and curtains on the sunny side of the house. Also, where possible, reduce the traffic in and out of the house.
  • Don’t use your oven to heat your home – it’s not efficient and most important, it’s not safe. The oven produces extremely high heat, and leaving the door open can be a fire hazard.
  • A fireplace is not always an efficient heat source. If not used properly it can actually make the rest of the house cooler because airflow up the chimney removes the heated air. When using the fireplace, close all doors and warm air ducts to the room where the fireplace is located. Glass doors on a fireplace will reduce the outflow of warm air. And a fireplace with a blower system is ever better because it actually blows the warm air around the firebox back into the room.
  • An electric blanket is more economical than heating the entire house all night long.
  • Use a portable electric heater to heat only a small area. Buy models that are thermostatically controlled. Keep it at least three feet from items that could catch fire like curtains or furniture. Make sure you have working smoke detectors on every floor and in every sleeping room of your house.
  • Make sure heating outlets and return air registers are not blocked by furniture, draperies, doors or other obstacles.
  • Use “draft stoppers” or towels/blankets to block drafts at foot of door.
  • If you should lose power, go to your thermostat and turn off your heating system. Please wait 10 to 15 minutes after power has been restored before turning it back on. This prevents a power surge from shutting down electricity again.
  • If you should lose power, please do not connect portable generators to your household electrical wiring. This can cause serious injury to you and to Gulf Power employees who are restoring electricity. Instead, plug appliances into the generator. Never use a generator in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces because of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

The outage reporting number for Gulf Power is (800) 487-6937. For Escambia River Electric Cooperative customers, the automated outage number is (877) 688-3732

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News