FOLSOM – As Tropical Storm Hermine approaches, South Jersey Gas offers these tips to help you stay prepared in the event of severe weather.
Before the storm:
- Check your yard for loose materials that could blow around by strong winds. Place all lawn furniture, hoses, garden ornaments, etc., inside your house or garage. These loose items, if blown around, could damage your natural gas meter.
- It is not necessary to turn off gas service. If you are not required to evacuate your home or business, your natural gas service should operate safely throughout the storm.
If you’re ever required to evacuate your home or business:
- Do not turn off your gas supply at the main meter. That valve should only be turned on or off by emergency utility personnel.
- If you choose to do so, you may turn off gas to individual appliances at the supply valve near each unit. Locate the turnoff valve for each of your gas appliances and familiarize yourself with its operation before a storm occurs.
During and after the storm:
(NOTE: If, due to communication problems, you are not able to contact South Jersey Gas, call 911 for assistance.)
- Immediately call South Jersey Gas if you smell natural gas (odor of rotten eggs) or see a broken gas line by calling the gas leak hotline at 1-800-582-7060.
- Immediately evacuate to another location if you smell a strong odor of natural gas inside the home or building. Next, call the gas hotline as soon as possible from a telephone outside of the home or building. Do not light any matches, turn on any light switches, or use the telephone in the area where the strong odor exists. Any of these actions could ignite gas that may have accumulated.
- If you turned off gas to an appliance and have any difficulty relighting the pilot light, call your plumber, qualified appliance service contractor or South Jersey Gas for assistance.
- If your home was flooded, call a licensed plumber or gas appliance technician to inspect your appliances prior to requesting a service reconnection.
- Before removing fallen trees, always call 811 to get the location of underground utility lines marked out. Gas, electric, telephone, water, sewer and cable lines may be entangled in the root system of the fallen trees. It’s the law in New Jersey and the call and the utility location service are free.
Please remember:
- In cases of outages due to damaged lines, our primary responsibility is to make the affected area safe. After the area has been made safe, service to affected customers will be restored as soon as possible.
- View Facebook and Twitter updates from South Jersey Gas in the event of natural gas emergencies or significant weather-related events.
