The recent blizzards brought Iowans snow, ice and strong winds, but the accompanying power outages also brought an electrical surge that zapped many computers. Zach Knorr is a computer technician in Cedar Rapids and says his business has had to bring on an extra person to handle all work orders.
Knorr says "It can be very serious. You can lose your entire computer all together or it can be as minor as just replacing the power supply and everything works great after that." Electronics stores have seen business pick up, too, since the storms. Eric Anderson, works at a big-box computer seller in Cedar Rapids.
Anderson says "We have a lot of people coming in and saying, ‘We just lost everything.’" Now, he says, customers are buying surge protectors, a plug-in circuit breaker device that can help keep your computer safe during an electrical storm or a power surge.
Anderson says ""I can’t stress it enough. You just have to get one of these. Even just a basic one is better than nothing. Your TVs, computers, stereo systems — big stuff like that need protection." He says battery back-up systems can also help stabilize your computer. While it’s too late to protect yourself from the damage caused by the latest storms, he says now is the time to start thinking about how you’ll keep your electronics safe the next time.