I started my professional career as a U.S. Navy nuclear submarine officer. Our submarine force is sometimes called The Silent Service because submarines must be silent to remain undetected as they accomplish their missions. Upon submerging at the beginning of patrol, we did what we called angles and dangles—driving the boat to extreme up and down angles. This procedure is designed to identify equipment and stored goods that were not stowed for sea and could bang around emitting sound that could be heard by a listening enemy.

Angles and dangles was a simple thing we did to ensure we were prepared for the rigors of our mission. Although a simple exercise, performing angles and dangles could be the difference between life and death in the heat of battle.

What do angles and dangles have to do with Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative? We are in storm season. In the electric utility business, Mother Nature is often our worst enemy, and storm season is the

heat of battle. From mid-November through March, we can expect the worst weather. At CCEC, we’ve done our pre-storm season angles and dangles.

Our warehouses are stocked with needed materials, equipment is in good order and ready for call-out, our operations personnel are watching the weather forecast, and mutual aid agreements are in place, to name a few of our preparations.

Last winter, storm season was more active than previous years. We had seven outage events classified as major event days—days where systemwide outages exceeded a specific length of time. Some outages lasted several hours during particularly cold weather. You may recall that between Christmas and New Year’s Day we had the worst windstorm in 15 years. In some circumstances, CCEC members were without power for 36 to 48 hours before repairs could be completed.

Have you done your pre-storm season angles and dangles? Are you prepared for a possible power outage lasting more than a day? There are many resources online to help you prepare. Here are some things you should consider:

• Food and water. Don’t expect grocery stores to be stocked or water systems to work.

• Warm clothes and blankets.. Heating systems that depend on electricity will not work.

• Medical equipment. Do you depend on electrically operated medical equipment?

• Flashlights and batteries. You don’t want to be the thing that goes bump in the night.

• Communications. Don’t expect cellphones and the internet to work.

• Transportation. Gas stations don’t work without electricity.

I enjoyed doing angles and dangles on the submarine. Storm season preparations can be fun, too. If nothing else, you can rest easy during the holiday season knowing your goose won’t get cooked.