Utility company public safety-related power shutoffs are scheduled through this weekend on the Central Coast.
KSBY News spoke to the American Red Cross to hear more about food safety tips to follow if any perishable food is in your fridge during an outage.
Cindy Huge, the American Red Cross Central Region public information officer, recommends avoiding opening your refrigerator and freezer to preserve cool temperatures during a power outage.
“Well, I would make sure that I don't open the refrigerator unless I absolutely have to," she said. "And when it comes time, when the power comes back on, make sure that the food is okay. If it's sitting there, and it's hot, you probably don't want to risk eating it.”
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According to the American Red Cross, an unopened refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours.
Huge says to use coolers with ice, if necessary.
“Get a couple of bags of ice I keep in my freezer, so if the power goes out and I have perishables, though, I want to make sure they stay cold,” Huge said. “I put them in a large chest freezer and throw the ice on top of them.”
The American Red Cross says that a full freezer will keep the temperature cool for about 48 hours and 24 hours if it is half full, if the door remains closed.
“I have nonperishable food that I have ready to eat, so I don't have to open that refrigerator, try to keep it closed as much as you can, and also bottled water,” Huge added.
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Molly Kern, the SLO Food Bank CEO, says they plan to assist those who may have lost their food during the power outage next week.
“We are set up with neighborhood food distributions all throughout the county that aren't affected when there is a power outage," Kern said. “And so even as soon as next week, anyone can come out to our distributions that are going to be in Paso Robles, Creston, [and] San Miguel.”
For more food safety tips in the event of a power outage, click here.
