What to Do When You Encounter Fallen Powerlines?

Table of Contents

1. Encounter Fallen Powerlines[+]
   1. Keep Distance
   2. Don’t Touch
   3. Saving Lives
   4. Emergency Services
   5. Prevent Others
   6. Shuffle Away
   7. Stay Inside
   8. Decline Help
   9. Stay Calm

Fallen powerlines can be extremely dangerous. If you don’t act decisively, then they could cause injury or damage to the local environment. If you are walking down the street (or driving), and encounter a fallen powerline, then it’s important that you act correctly and as quickly as possible.

The chances are that you have never encountered a fallen powerline in the past, however, so it’s only natural that you don’t (or won’t) know what to do. This article’s got you covered.

Encounter Fallen Powerlines

Here is exactly what you need to do, step-by-step, when you encounter fallen powerlines:

Keep Distance

The best piece of advice that we can give you is to keep your distance from any downed powerlines if you see them. The energy experts from GNB Energy say that a fallen powerline can be deadly.

Coming too close to one could result in you receiving a fatal shock. When powerlines go down and electricity reaches the ground, the ground can become electrified. You must stay at least 10 meters away from the power. The reason for this is that once the ground becomes charged with energy, the voltage won’t drop until 10 meters from the electricity’s point of contact.

Don’t Touch

While it might seem obvious, it’s still important to mention that you mustn’t touch the downed powerline with your body or any object. In the past, people have killed themselves by trying to poke down powerlines with objects. As mentioned previously, a downed power can electrify the ground.

While it is possible for the electricity to be turned off (and therefore the downed powerline won’t pose a threat), you must always assume that it is life. Just by looking at a downed powerline, there’s no way that you can tell whether or not it is still live or not (unless it is arcing).

Saving Lives

Unfortunately, if a person or animal has touched the powerline and is being electrocuted you mustn’t go anywhere near them or touch them. The reason for this is that you will most certainly be electrocuted by touching them or walking within the electrified zone. There have been countless cases of family members dying while trying to save their loved ones from being electrocuted.

The best thing that you can do is to phone the emergency services and hope that they can be saved. Trying to save a person being electrocuted will result in you dying, too.

Emergency Services

One of the first things that you should do when you encounter a downed powerline is to contact emergency services. Don’t assume that somebody else has already done it, this is very dangerous. When you notify the police they will be able to get hold of the energy company that supplies the area and cut off the local electricity supply, ensuring that nobody can get hurt.

In addition to contacting the police, if you know the name of the energy company that supplies the area, then you could consider ringing their helpline and notifying them too. This might help them to cut the area’s electricity more quicker.

Prevent Others

You also need to make sure that you prevent other people from going near the downed powerline or touching it. The best way to do this is to shout at anybody that comes near, notifying them that there is a downed powerline. If they are coming from another direction and the electrified zone is between you, then shouting should help them to understand the danger of the situation.

If they continue coming, you should shout louder or throw things at them. You need to scare them away so that they don’t hurt themselves. If there are cars coming, flash your vehicle’s headlights.

Shuffle Away

If you do accidentally touch the ground around a downed powerline, then experts recommend shuffling away. If you take small steps and keep your feet in contact with the ground at all times, then you should be able to avoid being shocked. This will save your life if you happen to be standing underneath a downed power when it collapses.

Make sure that you tell anybody that you are with, or anybody near you, to do the same. You need to shuffle until you are over 10 meters away, as already mentioned. Do not touch anyone or anything when you are in the electrified zone. Focus on getting yourself as far away as possible.

Stay Inside

If you are inside your car when a powerline comes down, and your car is parked in the electrified zone, you need to make sure that you stay in your car. If you get out, then the ground could be electrified and could therefore kill you the minute that you touch it.

Stay inside your car, phone the emergency services, and listen to their advice. They will likely tell you to stay inside your car until it’s safe for you to leave (when the power has been cut off). Do not attempt to jump from your car, unless it is on fire.

Decline Help

Make sure that if you are in your car, you tell anybody trying to help you to stop. As mentioned earlier, there’s nothing that you can do to help anybody that’s being electrocuted. Similarly, there’s nothing anybody can do to help you if you are stuck in the electrified zone inside your car.

The best thing that you can hope for is that the power company cuts the area’s supply off as quickly as possible. If anybody tries to help you, they will just end up hurting themselves – or worse killing themselves.

Stay Calm

If you are stuck inside your car when a powerline comes down, you need to stay calm. If you panic then you are going to make the situation a whole lot worse for yourself. Once you have notified the authorities, the only thing that you can do is wait. If your car is on fire, then most experts will advise jumping from your car as far away as you can, hopefully out of the electrified zone. You need to make sure that you aren’t touching the ground or your car at the same time, at any point.

Downed powerlines regularly result in deaths and injuries. In order to ensure that you don’t end up hurting yourself (or worse) when you encounter one, then you need to act according to this article’s advice. Thankfully, downed powerlines are rare and you likely won’t ever encounter one.

Thank you for reading!