EMEPA said it began preparing for landfall of Gustav Wednesday, activating its emergency work plan and securing additional line crews, should its system be damaged.

"Our members can be assured that we are paying close attention to this storm and will respond to outages as soon as it is safe to assess damage and begin work," said general manager Wayne Henson.

EMEPA reminded customers that safety is always a concern. It advised all to stay away from downed power lines, keep generators in ventilated areas and drive carefully through utility work areas.