"We heard a large boom:" 4,000 We Energies customers lost power Thursday morning

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- Four-thousand We Energies customers, including Milwaukee and Racine County residents, lost power Thursday morning.

“We heard a large boom at about four in the morning,” Racine resident Rob Becker, said. “My wife woke me up and said hey, guess what?! We have no power.”

Becker is one of 11-hundred people in Racine who lost power shutting off the lights and the heat during a deep freeze.

“All you could see was flashlights through everybody’s windows,” Becker said.

He said their house cooled quickly down to 50 degrees so they sought refuge at a family member’s house who still had power.

“My wife found an old kerosene lamp that she’s had for years,” he said. “She fired that up and we were fine.”

WE Energies said the cold weather is to blame for the outages.

“Our lines have a little bit of give in them so they can take on the wind, but it was so cold they actually snapped, and it snapped some of the power poles,” Brendan Conway, WE Energies, said.

The Red Cross says losing power when it is this cold Is extremely dangerous. They have been distributing blankets to warming shelters, and suggest people have a plan in case of more outages this season.

“You want to have an emergency kit that has things like id, has prescriptions, that has a flashlight in it,” Justin Kern, Red Cross WI Communications Officer, said.

More tips from the Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/Heat-Your-Home-Safely-during-Cold-Weather.html

IF THE POWER GOES OUT

If electrical power lines are down, don’t touch them. Keep your family and pets away. Report downed lines to your utility company.

Use flash lights in the dark, not candles.

Eliminate unnecessary travel, especially by car. Traffic lights will be out and roads will be congested.

If you are using a generator be sure you understand the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to use generators safely.

Never use a generator, grill, camp stove or other gasoline, propane, natural gas or charcoal-lburning device inside a home, garage, basement, crawlspace or any partially enclosed area.Keep these devices outdoors, away from doors, windows and vents that could allow carbon monoxide to come indoors.

Opening doors and windows or using fans will not prevent CO buildup in the home. Although CO can't be seen or smelled, it can rapidly lead to full incapacitation and death. Even if you cannot smell exhaust fumes, you may still be exposed to CO. If you start to feel sick, dizzy, or weak while using a generator, get to fresh air RIGHT AWAY - DO NOT DELAY.

Install CO alarms in central locations on every level of your home and outside sleeping areas to provide early warning of accumulating carbon monoxide

Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. An unopened refrigerator will keep foods cold for about 4 hours. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.

First use perishable food from the refrigerator. Perishables should have a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius) or below to be safe to eat. Then use food from the freezer.

Use your non-perishable foods and staples after using food from the refrigerator and freezer.

If it looks like the power outage will continue beyond a day, prepare a cooler with ice for your freezer items.

Keep food in a dry, cool spot and keep it covered at all times.

Turn off and unplug all unnecessary electrical equipment, including sensitive electronics.

Turn off or disconnect any appliances (like stoves), equipment or electronics you were using when the power went out. When power comes back on, surges or spikes can damage equipment.

Leave one light turned on so you’ll know when the power comes back on.

WINTER WEATHER - HEAT YOUR HOME SAFELY

Home heating is the second leading cause of fires in this country. To reduce the risk of heating related fires, the Red Cross recommends these steps (More home fire safety information available here):

All heaters need space. Keep children, pets and things that can burn (paper, matches, bedding, furniture, clothing, carpets, and rugs) at least three feet away from heating equipment.

If you must use a space heater, place it on a level, hard and nonflammable surface (such as ceramic tile floor), not on rugs, carpets or near bedding or drapes. Plug power cords directly into outlets - never into an extension cord.

Never leave a fire in the fireplace unattended, and use a glass or metal fire screen to keep fire and embers in the fireplace.

Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.

Turn off portable space heaters every time you leave the room or go to sleep