Our Jacksonville-based commercial and residential electrical company is weathered in hurricane preparedness and ready to help you prep for the storm, or clean up after it. The past few years, we have been sacked by large, devastating storms – knocking out power to large swaths of Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beaches, Yulee and St. Augustine.
Thompson Electric staff worked to prep our customers before Matthew and Irma, and came out in full force to get our customers back up and running after the flood waters subsided. Typical flood work includes pulling everything out that has been touched by water, however there are many things you can do to be better prepared and minimize the damage from storms in the future:
1. Stay up to code.
Having old electrical systems, out-of-date and worn down plugs and breakers, can lead to even more serious issues when a storm blows in. The best preparation you can do for a storm, is make sure your electrical systems are up-to-date and up-to-code. Building codes, although some times more expensive and more antiquated than you’d like them to be, are put into place to protect you.
As a licensed, professional, and experienced residential and commercial electrical company for almost 30 years, we follow everything by the book. Our team ensure that our work is up-to-code and sometimes beyond what is required, in order to mkae sure you have the best quality work that’s reliable and safe for years to come.
2. Shut the power off before it gets worse.
Shutting the power off at your home or office can help prevent additional damage from happening from a storm. Water, whether from heavy rains on the roof or flooding from the ground up to your sockets or breaker box, can get into your walls, clump up electrical insulation and cause fires. Most people think that water brings mold, rot, mildew and can sometimes push sewage into properties, but it can also wreck havoc on electrical systems and cause a fire when you’re in the middle of dealing with Hurricane force winds and rains.
Water can ruin your electrical wiring, corrode the metals, and water can actually cause a fire. Electrical fires are a far harder to control than a typical fire, and water does not put it out – it makes it worse. People trying to put out an electrical fire with water are typically shocked and end up spreading the fire because they don’t recognize that the fire is caused by electricity. If the power were turned off, this would not be an issue. Electrical fires are caused by simple things and can be prevented with a quick call to Thompson Electric to have our certified and professional team to have a hurricane preparedness assessment.
3. Call the professionals to repair electrical systems after a storm.
Although it may seem easy to change out a light socket, or a switch, that has been damaged from water after a storm – you may be doing more harm then good. DIY electrical home repairs are a risky decision and could result in shock, death or fire. Especially if water has come into your breaker boxes, into your sockets or touched exposed wires.
That’s where the professionals come in. We will shut your power off, assess all of your electrical systems from the entry point all the way through your breakers and walls, and out of your sockets, switches, lights and appliances. We can meter all of the circuits to make sure nothing was damaged in the walls, that you may not be able to see with the naked eye.
And our electrical professionals come prepared to jobs to switch out breakers, sockets, and wires to make sure your safe, and back up and running after a storm. Check out our project portfolio to see some of our post-storm electrical work in Jacksonville and North Florida.
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