What to shut off and where

....first, shut off the panic button.....

Things are moving QUICK! Droughts, food shortages, lay-offs, hot weather conditions....you name it, it's happening. Should it worry us? No. Worrying will do us no good. Instead, accept the responsibility and
take inventory of what you've done so far to prepare. If you:

1. Have some food and water stored
2. Have some cash at hand
3. Have several ways of cooking food and keeping warm
4. Found and/or updated your emergency kit
5. Have gas in your car so you can get to a safe place

...or can at least say yes to at least three of these, you're way ahead of many others! I'm proud of you!

Now, in case you have to leave the house, either because of severe weather conditions, natural disasters or for whatever other reason .....you may be requested or instructed to shut off the utilities to your house in order to prevent larger disasters or accidents.

Now is the time to take fifteen minutes to find the main turnoffs for gas, electricity and water. Don't turn them off, just make sure that you know where they are, and that you have the tools to do it.

1. Power

This one is probably the easiest one to find and will not require going outside. The electricity circuit box is usually a grey metal panel box mounted inbetween two studs. Here's a video:
http://emd.wa.gov/preparedness/videos/video_turning_off_electricity.shtml Turn off the individual breakers first, before shutting off the main breaker, and turn on the main one before turning on all the individual ones.

2. Propane or natural gas

If you smell gas or hear it escape, turn it off as soon as you can. And for Pete's sake, don't smoke!:-)

Here's a video on how to shut off propane tanks: http://emd.wa.gov/preparedness/videos/video_shutting_off_propane_gas.shtml

To shut off the meters on natural gas, check with your gas company. There are a variety of gas meters, and each will have a slightly different shut-off procedures. Here's the one for Intermountain Gas in Idaho:

http://www.intgas.com/safety/shutoffmeter.html

Don't actually shut the gas off when you're out there trying to figure it out: a professional will have to come and turn it back on. Besides a possible fee, you don't want to risk being without gas for the next several days!

3. Water

Locate the shut-off valve for the water line that enters your house. This might be in a crawl space, in the basement or near the foundation of the house, but you want to know where it is!

Here's a picture of what some of the valves look like: http://www.tvwd.org/resources--outreach/shut-off-your-water.aspx

Have you found all three? Wonderful!! Make sure the rest of the household also knows where to find these and how to turn them off in case of emergency. If you need certain tools to turn the utilities off, you may consider keeping a separate set just for that purpose, so that in a case of emergency you don't have to scramble desperately trying to find the toolbox. Nothing so unnerving as having water coming up to your ankles and you without remembering where you left those darn pliers! So be kind to yourself and keep a spare set!

You may also want to write down the instructions, and draw a map and mark where the different shut-off valves are, and keep them with the set of tools. This will also make it easier on emergency personnel in case they have to shut off the utilities while you're not home.