justinsane - Member - The Prepared

Discussions

Reply to: Best safety practices for handling fallen power lines obstructing roads following an outage (power off) Posted April 3, 2023

Never touch a down power line. Never approach a down power line. The ground may be energized. Shocks and electrocution occur due to a voltage differential, this is why birds can sit on a power line and not be harmed, there is no place for the energy to travel. If the ground is energized the voltage will be highest closer to the powerline, and taper as distance for the energy source is increased. That means if you are walking toward or away from the power line the voltage under one foot will be higher than the voltage under the other foot. Thus a voltage differential. That means the power will pass through you from one foot to the other. This is potentially deadly and invisible danger. if you are near a downed power line the safest place to be is in your vehicle, which will act as a faraday cage to protect you from the voltage and isolate the vehicle from the ground via the rubber tires. Even if the powerline is currently dead it could become energized at any moment with no warning. DO NOT TOUCH a downed powerline EVER!

No activity yet.

Reply to: Best safety practices for handling fallen power lines obstructing roads following an outage (power off) Posted April 3, 2023

Never touch a down power line. Never approach a down power line. The ground may be energized. Shocks and electrocution occur due to a voltage differential, this is why birds can sit on a power line and not be harmed, there is no place for the energy to travel. If the ground is energized the voltage will be highest closer to the powerline, and taper as distance for the energy source is increased. That means if you are walking toward or away from the power line the voltage under one foot will be higher than the voltage under the other foot. Thus a voltage differential. That means the power will pass through you from one foot to the other. This is potentially deadly and invisible danger. if you are near a downed power line the safest place to be is in your vehicle, which will act as a faraday cage to protect you from the voltage and isolate the vehicle from the ground via the rubber tires. Even if the powerline is currently dead it could become energized at any moment with no warning. DO NOT TOUCH a downed powerline EVER!