Southern Alberta’s wind is back this weekend. Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a wind warning for Lethbridge early Saturday, and strong gusts are forecast again for Sunday morning. Wind like that can bring down branches and power lines, and even a one-second flicker can upset the computers and internet gear in your office or home.
Before the next gust
- Plug computers, modems and routers into a surge-protecting power bar, or better yet a battery backup unit (a UPS). The Government of Canada’s power outage advice recommends a surge-protecting power bar for computers and TVs.
- Save your work often on windy days, and close files you aren’t using.
- Charge laptops, phones and a power bank, so you can keep working, or at least stay in touch, if the power stays off.
If the power goes out
Unplug computers, printers and other electronics. The Government of Canada’s Get Prepared advice on power outages says to unplug electronic equipment during an outage, leave one light on so you know when power is back, and wait 10 to 15 minutes after it returns before plugging other things in again. That gives the electrical system a chance to settle.
When it comes back
- Start with the internet: modem first, then the router. Give them a few minutes to finish starting up before you turn on computers.
- Then computers, then printers and everything else.
- If a computer was in the middle of an update, let it finish when it restarts. Don’t switch it off again partway through.
- Check that last night’s backup actually ran. A backup cut off by an outage is easy to miss. (Here’s why a backup is only as good as its last restore.)
- If a battery backup unit beeped a lot or shut off early, its battery may be wearing out. Those batteries don’t last forever.
If a computer won’t start, makes new noises, or files won’t open after an outage, stop and get help rather than restarting it over and over. Repeated restarts on a struggling drive can make recovery harder.
For more on protecting your gear through the winter, see Keep the power clean: winter-proofing your office tech. And for the household side of an outage, from flashlights to keeping warm, our sister site has a good power outage page.