Should you turn off your water and electricity in SC during Hurricane Irma evacuation?

Local utility companies are instructing Beaufort County residents to turn off their water but not their electricity in the event of an evacuation ahead of Hurricane Irma.

Pamela Flasch, communications manager Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority, said the reason they’re telling residents to turn off water is to avoid “water backing up into their house.”

The Water & Sewer Authority has also provided a video on their Facebook page telling residents how to go about turning off their water supply.

As for electricity, Tray Hunter, spokesperson for Palmetto Electric, said that they’re advising residents to “let mother nature turn it off for us.”

But in the end, he said turning off electricity is a decision for the homeowner to make.

“We don’t really have a preference, but personally I don’t turn mine off,” Hunter said. “If you don’t lose power and shut it down yourself, then you’ll lose everything in your fridge or freezer.”

“It’s the same as a regular thunderstorm or if a tree falls on a power line or if a car hits a transformer,” he continued. “It’ll come back on when you get it back on.”

Hunter also said it’s not a bad idea to unplug other electronics.

“If there’s a surge in the system as an outage is happening or when it’s restored, it could damage electronics,” he said. “If that’s a point of concern, unplug TVs and what not. Any surge with a transformer failing or restoration could cause a light surge through the system.”

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This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 11:57 AM with the headline "Should you turn off your water and electricity in SC during Hurricane Irma evacuation?."