T&TEC activates action plan, emergency numbers

THE Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) activated its central command centre on Monday, with the aim of dealing with any issues of electricity supply as a result of bad weather.

T&TEC made this announcement in a statement on Tuesday.

As part of its preparations for the approaching tropical storm, T&TEC said all its customer service centres would close at 2 pm on Tuesday.

All planned outages for Tuesday and Wednesday have been cancelled .

T&TEC's call centres are fully staffed with additional people assigned to manage all incoming calls.

It said, "Updates on reports will be available on the 800 numbers via an automated message. Additional updates and safety advice will also be made available on social media and the T&TEC website."

The release said T&TEC's mobile substations are on standby, ready to be deployed in areas of greatest need if electricity needs to be restored.

Two substations have already been sent to Tobago and another two to Trinidad's north coast. T&TEC's resources in Tobago have been bolstered by two crews and accompanying trucks from Trinidad.

The commission said, "In addition to over 70 crews on standby nationwide, separate crews will be routed this afternoon to vulnerable regions in East Trinidad and East Tobago, to allow for faster response times in those areas."

Preventative measures have reportedly been put in place at all substations to avoid possible flooding. Key personnel and staff are on full alert. Leave has been cancelled for all field staff and all external tree-trimming personnel are to be available to assist with responses.

T&TEC urged the public to be extremely cautious and take every precaution to protect themselves from life-threatening danger during the imminent bad weather.

Those whose homes are flooded should be extremley careful, it said, "as they could be at risk for shock or electrocution."

T&TEC advised people to "turn off any electrical outlet or connection that has been or is likely to be breached by water."

This can be done by turning off the breaker switch for that individual outlet.

Standing on a wet surface and handling electrical equipment such as cords, power tools, plugs, outlets also exposes people to the danger of electrocution.

As a part of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management’s (ODPM) National Emergency Operation Centre. T&TEC will will share updates about the weather with the public via the ODPM and its own channels.

Emergency T&TEC numbers:

Existing emergency numbers: 800-8832 (TTEC) and 800-2852 (BULB),

New hotlines – 794-7264 and 794-4823