B.G.E. gets ready for hurricane season

WHITE MARSH, Md. - Hurricane season kicks off June 1st, but last year we had our share of storms, and with those storms, come power outages.

Workers from Baltimore Gas & Electric are ready year round to handle problems.

"You do your work when the weather turns bad."

Pete Smith has been working to keep your power on for 23 years.

He knows you can't wait until the last minute to be ready.

"It's pretty tough out there.  You have to prepare days ahead of time.  You need to drink plenty of water so you don't get dehydrated, and you need to get plenty of rest."

Not only do the linemen need to be ready, they want you to be prepared too.

B.G.E. says now is the time to make sure you have everything you need to handle a big storm.

Make sure you have flashlights, fresh batteries, a battery operated clock radio, and a fully charged cell phone.

I had a chance to put on the gear the linemen wear when they have to climb a pole.

Their equipment can weigh more than 50 pounds.

This can be dangerous work.

"We have many safety procedures in place while we do this hazardous work."

It's nice and sunny out now, but when the power goes out, and these guys have to go to work, it's a whole different story out there.

"We walk through 3 feet of snow and go up ice poles to replace lines.  We have to."

"If your power does go out, they want you to remember one thing."

"Be patient, we are working as hard as we can to get the power back to you."