CLENDENIN, W.Va. — Homeowners who had their electrical breaker boxes totally submerged in flood water will have to replace them before they are approved by the power company for hook-up, state Homeland Security and Emergency Manager Jimmy Gianato said.
It’s a question that surfaced at community meetings last week in Kanawha County following the June 23 flood that destroyed 1,500 homes and damaged 2,500 others in parts of 12 West Virginia counties.
Gianato has spoken with the power company utilities about the situation.
“Their position in conjunction with the electrical inspectors is that if that breaker box was completely submerged in the house it needs to be replaced,” Gianato said. “When you get breakers in these breaker boxes that are filled with this muddy, silty water that has corrosive materials–and who knows what else in that water–they don’t feel it is safe to try and go in and clean those out.”
Using a breaker box previously flooded could cause a fire, Gianato said.
“Your breaker may work now but three weeks from now it may not trip if there’s a short in the circuit and then you have a fire and someone could die in a house fire,” he said.
It could cost anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars to replace a breaker box. Gianato said he realizes the additional cost isn’t popular.
“It is a safety issue and although probably not what everybody wants to hear, it’s probably a sound decision,” he said.