Company encourages you to stay ahead of summer power outages

CRAIGHEAD COUNTY, AR (KAIT) - Craighead Electric Cooperative Corporation encourages people to be mindful and stay ahead of summer power outages.

The company said storms are mostly to blame for hundreds of power outages this summer.

This past weekend, roughly 800 Craighead Electric customers were impacted by power outages due to storms.

"If you have any medical issues, we recommend you have some type of backup plan," said Monty Williams, Craighead Electric's vice president of marketing and communications.

Since temperatures are so hot and humid in the summer months, Williams said people should have a generator on standby or secure friends and family willing to let you relocate during an outage.

Power could be out for several hours following a storm.

"It depends on the storm," said Williams. "The severity of it, if it's a severe storm it could be off for several hours or days. The one we had the other day was just about three to four hours. So, with hot temperatures, it can get warm in the house quick."

Other tips Williams suggests if you can't leave your home during an outage are keeping your doors closed and leave your blinds and windows shut.

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