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Severe Weather Alert 1/9/24 for Cheverly and Surrounding Area

Posted on: January 9, 2024 - 2:15pm
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Due to the threat of severe weather, the Town of Cheverly administrative staff will be working remotely beginning at 3:00 pm. We encourage residents to stay off roadways in the late afternoon and early evening.
 
The forecasted weather may down trees and tree limbs and cause damage to the local energy grid and result in power outages for residents. We are closely following the weather conditions. Our Public Works staff and Police Department along with Cheverly CERT remain ready to respond to any issues that may occur.

The National Weather Service has issued a severe weather alert for Prince George’s County and the surrounding region starting today. High winds between 25 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected in our area.

We encourage residents to be cautious if traveling during the storm and keep in mind the following reminders to help keep you and your family safe: 
  • Storms with high winds could result in fallen trees and loss of power. Prepare for flooding. 
  • Secure loose items in your yard, charge devices, and ensure lights have fresh batteries.
  • Find more advice at pepco.com/StormPrep.
Stay away from downed power lines and tree limbs that may come into contact with power lines. To report an outage or downed wire, call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) or report and track through the PepcoConnect mobile app or website at pepco.com/StormPrep.
 
Always dial 911 for life-threatening emergencies.
Message from PEPCO: 
We are committed to providing our customers with safe and reliable energy service and preventing those power outages that can be prevented.
 
What do we want customers to know/do?
  1. Just like we prepare for damage that may occur, we encourage our customers to prepare for any forecasted severe weather as well.
    1. Have a supply of bottled water and easy-to-prepare, non-perishable foods available.
    2. Charge cell phones and other mobile devices. Consider backup chargers.
    3. Have a flashlight with fresh batteries on each floor of your home.
    4. More tips available at pepco.com/StormPrep
  2. If storm damage does occur:
    1. Always stay away from any storm damaged electrical equipment, especially downed power lines and tree limbs that may come into contact with power lines.
    2. Check on elderly neighbors and relatives.
    3. Don't connect your generator directly to your home's wiring. Never use a generator indoors or in an attached garage. Read and adhere to the manufacturer's instructions for safe operation.
  3. Protect your electronic equipment. Unplug sensitive electronics or plug computers and other sensitive equipment into surge suppressors. This will protect the equipment from potentially damaging power surges. However, leave at least one light on so you’ll know when power is restored.
  4. Turn off power to flood-prone basement appliances if it is safe to do so. However, if you have an electric sump pump, you should not turn off the power in your basement.
  5. If evacuation is necessary, customers should turn off all utilities at the main power switch and close the main gas valve.
  6. Prepare for flooding. Do not enter flooded basements – water at certain levels could be energized.  If localized or coastal flooding occurs, Pepco is prepared to respond quickly and maintain a safe environment for customers, the local community, and our crews.
  7. We are pre-emptively preparing our system to allow for efficient and safe operation of energy equipment, should we need to de-energize.
  8. We are coordinating closely with government officials, local public safety officials, and our partners at emergency management agencies.
  9. To keep up to date, customers are encouraged to visit pepco.com (http://www.pepco.com/), call 1-877-737-2662 (tel:1-877-737-2662), or use our mobile app. 
We encourage all customers to report outages and downed wires.
  1. Safety is our top priority. We urge our customers to stay away from downed wires and other equipment and assume any downed wire or equipment is energized.
  2. To report an outage or downed wire, call 1-877-PEPCO-62 (1-877-737-2662) or report and track through our mobile app or our website at pepco.com/StormPrep.
  3. Customers also can text “Out” to 48710 to report their outage.
    1. Customers must first text “ADD OUTAGE” to 48710 to sign up for this service.
  4. Customers also can receive outage alerts by signing up online at pepco.com/Alerts. 
  5. Customers are encouraged to follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/pepco and on Twitter at twitter.com/pepco to get the latest information from the company.
Reporting Outages or Downed Wires; Requesting Call Backs
  1. Customers’ reports are vital to Pepco’s restoration efforts. Pepco also recommends that, when reporting an outage, customers request an automated call when their power is restored.  
  2. Call backs allow Pepco to notify customers when work in their area is completed and they also help Pepco locate outages that may be specific to customers’ homes.