So, you've prepared for the storm, made your emergency kit—now what? We'll walk you through ways you can stay safe during and after any storm, and how Dominion Energy has your back every step of the way.

Reporting power outages is a real help to us, as we can then come up with a plan of action with our crews, who are waiting to begin work as soon as it's safe to do so.

If your power goes out, and the Internet is down, you can get outage updates by signing up for text and email alerts. We'll send alerts via text to your mobile phone that will keep you updated on current outages in your area, multi-day outages, storm preparation ideas, and breaking news relevant to the storm.

You can even report or check an outage online and on your mobile device by going to our home page, then clicking Report Outage or Emergency. Or, if you need to report a downed line, you can also call us.

Along with reporting your outage:

• Turn off major appliances such as air conditioners, water heaters and stoves.
• Unplug TVs, stereos, microwaves and computers to prevent damage during possible overloads.
• Leave a lamp or light on so you’ll know when power is restored.

During a storm, there may be damage to lines. Always consider them energized and dangerous. If you believe a downed line presents an imminent danger, please call 911. Otherwise, call us. We answer every call we receive about a downed line.

When calling us to report a downed line, please keep in mind that you'll need to be prepared to give as much information as possible about the location and condition of the line. This will help us secure the line and ensure safety as soon as possible.

When reporting a downed line, please keep back at least 30 feet, and instruct others to do so as well. Remember—electricity travels; keep pets, neighbors, and yourself as far from it as possible.

Our primary focus after a storm hits is to quickly and safely restore power to you. By keeping us updated on current outages in your area, you're helping us and our crews safely come up with a plan of action.

We predict restoration time using something called ETR (estimated time of restoration). This information we use to predict ETRs comes from crews in the field, and you, our customer. We use that information to refine our restoration plan and estimate when power can be restored. However, if crews visit the site and determine more damage has occurred than was originally reported, we will have to make adjustments to the ETRs.