top of page

Lights Out Again? Your Old Hickory Survival Guide for Medicine, Food and Safety

Writer: Shane Burkett
Shane Burkett
22 hours ago
6 min read
Lights Out Again? Your Old Hickory Survival Guide for Medicine, Food and Safety. A closed fridge stays safe about 4 hours; a full freezer about 48 hours. Report an outage at 615-234-0000 or text OUT to 637797.
Lights Out Again? A neighbor's guide to medicine, food, and safety during an Old Hickory power outage. Graphic by The Old Hickory Citizen.

Official advice on protecting refrigerated medication, keeping food safe, using a generator without carbon monoxide risk, reporting an NES outage, and what to know about claims.

OLD HICKORY, Tenn. — Neighbors in Old Hickory Village have counted 14 power outages since January’s ice storm, according to a list kept by resident Jemina Boyd and reported by WSMV 4. Some households are using generators. A neighborhood pharmacist has moved medicine into a home refrigerator. Until Nashville Electric Service rebuilds the aging system — work representatives said would start in the next fiscal year, sometime after July 1 — families here will keep facing hours without power. Here is official guidance for the problems neighbors are already living with.

Refrigerated medicine

The Food and Drug Administration says to keep a current list of your medicines, a copy of your prescriptions, and a cooler with ice or frozen gel packs for anything that must stay cold. Follow the label. If a medicine has not been kept at the recommended temperature, check the label or call a pharmacist, a doctor, or the manufacturer. If it is needed to sustain life — insulin is the FDA’s example — and a replacement is not available, the agency says it may be used until you can get a new supply, then replaced.

Insulin labels call for storage at about 36 to 46 degrees Fahrenheit. Insulin in the manufacturer’s original vials or cartridges may generally be left unrefrigerated between 59 and 86 degrees for up to 28 days and still work. Keep it cool, but do not freeze it, and keep it out of direct heat and sunlight. If you have to use insulin stored above 86 degrees, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to check your blood sugar regularly and contact your doctor when you can. When the power has been out for a day or more, the CDC says, throw away medication that should be refrigerated unless the label says otherwise. When in doubt, call your pharmacist. Village Rx is at 1100 Donelson Avenue, 615-541-7374.

Food

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and FoodSafety.gov use the same rules. Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. A closed refrigerator keeps food safe for about 4 hours; after that, discard perishable food such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, leftovers, and milk. A full freezer holds a safe temperature for about 48 hours; a half-full freezer for about 24 hours. Frozen food may be refrozen if it still contains ice crystals or is at 40 degrees or below. Never taste food to decide whether it is safe. When in doubt, throw it out. Keep an appliance thermometer in the refrigerator (40 degrees or below) and the freezer (0 degrees or below). Fifty pounds of dry ice should hold an 18-cubic-foot freezer for two days; do not touch dry ice with bare hands or place it directly on food. During a snowstorm, do not set perishable food out in the snow. For a longer keep-or-toss list, see the FoodSafety.gov charts or call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854.

Generators

Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless, and it can kill quickly. The CDC and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission say never to run a portable generator inside a home, garage, basement, shed, or other enclosed or partly enclosed space, even if doors and windows are open. Use it outdoors only, more than 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents, with the exhaust pointed away from the house — not on a porch or in a carport. Install battery-operated or battery-backup carbon monoxide alarms near sleeping areas. If an alarm sounds, get outside and call 911. Symptoms include headache, dizziness, weakness, upset stomach, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion, often described as “flu-like.” NES adds: never connect a generator directly to home wiring without the proper transfer equipment, which can send power back into the lines and endanger utility workers, and never use ovens, grills, or outdoor heating devices to heat a home. The CPSC also says never to use charcoal indoors. If you see a downed power line, NES says to assume it is live, stay at least 30 feet away, and call 911 or 615-234-0000. If you see smoking wires, sparks, or damaged electrical equipment, NES has told WSMV, call 911 and do not approach it.

Reporting an outage

NES says you can report an outage at any time by calling 615-234-0000 (have the meter number or the phone number on the account), signing into My Account or the NES mobile app, using the “Report” button on the outage map, or texting OUT to 637797 if that mobile number is tied to your account. Restoration times on the map are estimates and can change. Power restored in your area does not always mean power has been restored at your house. Keep your account phone and email current through My Account, by calling Customer Relations at 615-736-6900, or at the customer lobby at 1214 Church Street, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For tree-trimming questions, NES lists 615-695-7400.

Medical-needs registration

NES offers a Critical Referral Program for residents who require an electrically powered, life-sustaining medical device on a continual basis. The published page is not a general registry for households that only need to keep medicine cold. To apply, submit the form on that page and have a physician send a verification letter, which must be resubmitted every two years. Those customers receive priority during individual outages. During a widespread outage, NES says, system repairs come first, and storms can leave people without power for days. The utility tells applicants to have a backup plan.

Claims

NES told WSMV in October that “there is a full process in place for investigating any potential issue with our system as well as a claims process to address customer concerns.” It did not publish a claims form with that statement. The fine print is less encouraging. NES’s Schedule of Rules and Regulations says the company “will use reasonable diligence to provide a regular and uninterrupted supply of electricity, but shall not be liable for any loss, injury or property damage resulting from” an interruption, a delay in restoration, mechanical failure, voltage irregularity, fire, acts of God, and other listed causes. Filing a claim is still possible, especially if NES equipment is involved, but payment is not promised. After the January ice storm, WSMV reported, NES did not answer questions about creating a reimbursement program. After the Oct. 18 fires on Clarke Street, homeowner Art Anderson told WSMV his claim was denied; his neighbor, Barbara Longobardi, said hers was still pending as of Oct. 22. You may also want to call your own insurer; coverage varies, and this newspaper is not giving insurance advice.

Existing SNAP recipients who lost food because of a power outage of 12 hours or more, or a household misfortune, can ask the Tennessee Department of Human Services for replacement benefits. Sign affidavit HS-3003 and submit it within 10 calendar days of the food loss, preferably through the One DHS Customer Portal. Approved benefits go on the current EBT card for the value of the loss only and cannot exceed that month’s allotment. Details are on the TDHS disaster assistance page. If NES has not settled an unresolved service complaint, its FAQ points customers to TVA’s complaint-resolution process at tva.com/complaintresolution.

Until crews rebuild the lines, the most useful tools are the official ones: a cooler for medicine, a closed refrigerator door, a generator kept far from the house, an outage report filed when the lights first go out, and a call to the pharmacist if a vial has gotten warm.

Sources

Comments

Top Stories

bottom of page