Your electric utility company wants you to call to report a storm-related outage.
What they don't want you to do is try to help them after a storm by trimming trees or clearing debris away from downed power lines or utility poles.
Always assume that the lines and poles are electrified and potentially deadly. Never approach the wires, whether they are caught in trees or on the ground.
Let the professionals handle fallen or low-hanging lines and always stay away from electrical transformers.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.