Fortis has been busy this week restoring power to communities that saw outages due to strong winds that wreaked havoc across southern parts of the province.

Across Alberta 11,000 customers were without power Tuesday night and as of Wednesday morning 3,700 homes were still without. Over 300 Fortis employees were working to restore power to the impacted communities.

Jennifer MacGowan, director of customer experience for Fortis, says it's recommended residents have an emergency preparedness kit ready to last them for up to 72 hours incase of an outage.

"We would like people to think of outage supplies like water and non-perishable food items, a first aid kit, any prescription medications, also flashlights, lanterns, and a battery operated radio along with batteries, and back-up portable chargers for their cell phones."

When an outage hits, customers are able to call Fortis anytime at (403) 310- 9473.

MacGowan says people need to be careful around downed power lines.

"We encourage that if any community members come across downed power lines they stay at least 10 metres away from them because there is a strong possibility they may be energized and in that case call 911 or call us at Fortis."

She adds if a power line were ever to come across a vehicle while the motorist is inside they should remain in the vehicle, unless there is fire present, because of the safety precautions needed to ensure the line is de-energized before getting out of the car.

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