The average starting date of the monsoon is this week, according to the National Weather Service. Mother Nature is taking notice as meteorologists are predicting “high humidity, cloudy skies and possible thunderstorms for the Valley this week.” As the monsoon envelops the Valley from July to September, being prepared and aware are essential for safety.

SRP offers Valley residents these summer safety tips:

• Be sure to have flashlights, a battery-operated radio and a phone readily accessible in case of a power outage.
• Maintain a first-aid kit that includes your family’s prescription medications. Make sure items     in the first-aid kit are in usable condition.
• Try to remain indoors during a storm.
• If caught outdoors, stay at least 100 feet from any downed power line.
• Never try to help someone trapped by a power line.  The line could be energized and endanger your own safety.  Instead, immediately call 911 for help.  Then call SRP’s emergency number, (602) 236-8811, to report the incident.
• If a power line hits your car while you are in it, stay inside the car until professional help arrives.
• If your vehicle catches fire and you must leave it, avoid making contact with the vehicle and the ground at the same time.  Jump from the vehicle, landing with both feet together.  Shuffle or hop away, keeping both feet in contact with each other until you are at least 100 feet from the vehicle.  This may avoid making your body a ground path between energized and grounded areas or objects.
• Do not shower during a storm.  Lightning can travel through pipes.
• Do not swim during a storm.  Lightning can strike bodies of water.
• Lightning can travel through electric lines and damage electronic equipment.  When practical, unplug the power cords to all electronic equipment to provide total protection from lightning-induced damage.
• To check for “real-time” updates during a power outage, customers can go to www.srpnet.com.  Customers then can click on the “power outage map” link and scroll over the yellow pushpins to get information about affected areas, number of people impacted and expected time of repair.  (Valley resident also can access the outage map from a smart phone or tablet.)
• To be alerted via email or text when your home is affected by an outage, customers can sign up for a notification on My Account. To learn more, visit www.srpnet.com and search “My Account.”

For more tips, visit www.srpnet.com/safety/storm. SRP routinely posts updates and outage information on Twitter and Facebook during major storms. To get connected, follow @SRPconnect on Twitter or “like” SRP’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/srpconnect. During a power outage, SRP customer service representatives can be reached 24 hours a day at (602) 236-8888.