Tips for Surviving a Power Outage
What should you do in case of a power outage? Having survived many power outages, here are some of our best survival tips鈥攂efore, during, and after a power outage. Please check this list鈥攁nd stay safe!
Tornadoes, hurricanes, severe thunderstorms, flooding, and extreme weather events can easily knock out power in your home. But even an animal or too many A/C units on the power grid can cause a power outage.
Deal first with the biggest safety issues: bringing light to the dark, staying warm and dry, and providing food to yourself and your family.
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How to Have Light in a Power Outage
- It鈥檚 best to use flashlights or battery-powered (LED) lanterns to use in case of a power outage rather than candles to prevent accidental fires. Attach a strip of glow-in-the-dark tape to your flashlights to make them easy to find.
- Headlamps are very helpful for every family member. These enable you to have both hands free to do tasks, and family members can be more independent. You can even read a book in bed while wearing one. Stock up on straps, too, to strap the headlamp to a gallon of water. By strapping the headlamp onto the jug with the lamp鈥檚 front facing the inside, the light reflects off of the water and can illuminate more of the room.
- Avoid using candles or an open flame as a light source, as it could be a fire hazard, particularly if there are children or pets in the home. While romantic, they can tip over too easily in an emergency situation. However, if this is all you have on hand, just be careful not to leave candles or fuel-lit lamps unattended. Use secure candle holders. Empty food cans half-filled with sand work great. Be sure to also have a supply of lighters or matches to light your candles with.
- Your cell phone could be used for light鈥攆or as long as the battery lasts. Drastically increase your battery life by plugging your phone into a portable USB battery pack.
How To Stay Warm in a Power Outage
- Select one room in which people鈥攁nd pets鈥攃an spend most of their time together. Pick a room with few or no windows on the south side for maximum heat during the day, and layer up with warm clothing.
- Drape all windows with blankets, comforters, or quilts. Uncover south-facing windows during the day to let in the Sun鈥檚 warmth.
- Never burn charcoal for heating or cooking indoors. Never use your oven as a source of heat.
- Make a list (in advance) of shelters and hotels that allow pets, in case you need to evacuate with yours.
Cooking and Eating Without Power
- Open your refrigerator or freezer door only when absolutely necessary. Plan ahead to minimize the time the door is open.
- If the door stays closed, a refrigerator without power will keep food safe for four hours. A full freezer will keep its temperature for 48 hours (or 24 hours if half full). Store food outside if the temperature is cold enough (40 degrees or less). Monitor temperatures with a thermometer.
- Keep ice packs in your freezer for use in coolers or your refrigerator in case of an outage.
- Eat foods you are know are safe from spoiling. Good examples are canned foods, such as vegetables, beans, and soups.
- If you have one, cook on your woodstove. Heat canned soup and boil water for tea and instant coffee.
- Have potluck dinners with your neighbors and take turns hosting. You鈥檒l be eating better and getting to know your neighbors at the same time.
- If the weather allows, cook on your outdoor grill鈥攂ut only outdoors. Due to the possibility of fumes and fire, never use an outdoor grill indoors. Here are a few great recipes and tips for the grill.
- If it鈥檚 cold enough outside, fill clean plastic milk jugs with water and put them outside to freeze solid. Put these jugs into coolers, which can serve as temporary refrigerators for food supplies.
What to Do if You Lose Your Water
- When extreme weather threatens, fill up your bathtub with water (for washing and flushing). Note: If you expect temperatures to drop below freezing in your house, avoid filling up the tub, as you could end up with a frozen (and cracked) bathtub.
- In cold climates, pack fresh snow in buckets and bring it indoors to melt.
- In winter, keep pipes from freezing by turning on a slow trickle of water. Protect water pipes from freezing by wrapping them with layers of newspapers and then plastic wrap. See more tips for preventing frozen pipes.
Your Car
- Keep your vehicle鈥檚 gas tank at least half full! Gas stations rely on electricity to power their pumps.
- Never drive across power lines outside. Never!
- To avoid damage from falling branches, plan ahead and don鈥檛 park your cars under trees. If possible, remove any potentially hazardous or weak-looking branches well ahead of storms.
Generator Tips
- The best way to get through a power outage is to avoid it altogether. Investing in a home generator can save you a lot of time and stress during emergency outages, as it can keep your heat and light running when you really need it.
- However, NEVER run a generator inside a home or garage, or connect it to your home鈥檚 electrical system to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tech Tips
- Today, we also rely on technology for communication and safety. Keep cell phones charged.
- If the power is out, dim the brightness of your phone and turn off wifi to save battery life. Also, switch your battery to low power mode under settings.
- Turn off or disconnect appliances and other equipment in case of a momentary power 鈥渟urge鈥 that can damage computers and other devices.
- We also recommend a surge protector to safeguard electronics from the harmful effects of power surges and voltage spikes. A power surge is a spike in the electrical current flowing through the wires of your house. They can damage common appliances, sensitive AV electronics, and computer equipment.
What to Do After a Power Outage
- When in doubt, throw it out! Throw out any perishable foods that have been exposed to temperatures above 40掳F for more than two hours. If you鈥檙e unsure whether something is still good, it鈥檚 better to just throw the item out and not risk becoming ill.
- Make sure you鈥檝e put out any candles and kerosene lamps you used during the outage. These can be a fire hazard when left unattended.
Related Articles
- More tips on surviving blizzards and power outages from a winter weather veteran
- What to keep in your emergency survival kit for home
- Winter emergency car kit
- How to make a first aid kit.
Do you have any helpful power outage tips? Please share them in the comments below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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Along with everyone else鈥檚 suggestions during an expected outage, after we take showers & I do the laundry, I fill the washer with cold water. It is used for everything other than drinking or cooking. For those, I fill our 5 gallon insulated water cooler. I also keep a couple of clean milk jugs full of water in the deep freeze
I miss being able to do that. Our old washer finally had to be replaced and these new washers now have a safety feature... lid locks when in use and it doesn't unlock until washer has fully drained after power is back on.
When I have a power outage I bring my solar driveway lights inside and have a few in each room I am using. The next morning I take them back outside to recharge in the sun in case I need them again that night.
Completely safe!
When my kids were small and the temperature dropped, I would take their pj's, bathtowels, and a blanket off their bed, and throw it in the dryer for 5 minutes while they had their evening bath. There was never an argument about getting out of the bath or into their beds! I still use that with older relatives, taking a comforter and warming it in the dryer, either for sleeping or just relaxing them. Works every time.
Dryer won't work during power outage though. Can heat bricks wrapped in foil (or wrap in thick cloth or towel after heating) on wood stove or outdoor grill, will be dangerously hot so wrap in thick cloth or use oven mitts to handle, then place under the covers to pre-warm the bed, remove the bricks, and crawl into warm bed.
We often lose power in nor'easters and hurricanes. Sandy left us without power for a week. Eastern Long Island went without longer.
*I always make everyone take a shower and wash/dry their hair when a storm threatens, that way we start off clean.
* Get all the laundry washed and dried.
*Be sure you have enough stored water for your pets as well as humans.
* As a nurse practitioner, I caution all my patients to check medication if a storm is brewing, and get refills whenever possible. Same for my family.
*Have a written list of medicines and phone #s - if your cell phone dies, you still have access. We will not give up our land line due to storm frequency around here.
* if you have along driveway as we do, park your cars down toward the end - less snow to shovel, and they'll survive not being in the garage. Remember to raise the wiper blades unless you have gale force winds which might snap them off.
* we have a wood stove to cook on and for heat. Always be sure you have a cord of wood dry and ready to go. Or at least enough to get you through a few days.
* Candles are a danger with pets and kids. Buy and use solar lanterns which recharge with very little light. Even a dim day will cause them to refresh their power if they are next to a window or glass door. Plus they are easy to read and play games by without eye strain.
* If you must sleep in a very cold room wear socks and a head scarf to retain maximum body heat.
* Make every effort to stay dry and thoroughly dry out all wet clothing before re-using.
* If a family member needs a specific supply of something - diaper/depends/insulin syringes/baby lotion/contact solution/ dog and cast food/cat litter, etc. be sure you have enough on hand for at least a week.
* charge your laptop and phones and use them only like a battery-powered radio: now and then! Use only to find out what's going on outside and to let family on social media know you're OK, and to see if vulnerable friends and family are well also.
* newspaper!! Use like wee-wee pads for smaller pets, DO NOT LET YOUR ANIMALS OUTSIDE WITHOUT A LEASH IN A STORM. Wind, thunder, thundersnow, falling icicles and branches can scare then into running away. This is not a time for them to be out alone. We have rough collies and spread a plastic drop cloth on the garage floor and cover it with the paper for them to use when snow is too deep or the storm is too fierce for them to take care of business outside. Easy to clean up, especially if they were paper-trained as puppies (our were!).
Stay warm and safe everyone.
If you have children or pets, candles and oil filled lanterns are NOT safe. Children and pets can get out of control and knock these over, starting house fires. I live in a hurricane prone area. We are told to use flashlights (battery or hand-cranked) or glow sticks. I use glow sticks and kids love them. You can order the extra large ones that will last about 12-18 hours. I do have head lamps and really like them.
I keep my solar lights on all year round. Whenever there are power outages, I can then bring them inside at night to safely light the house, and put them back out the next day to re-charge. ....Works great, and they give off a tremendous amount of light when everywhere is pitch black!
I saw a wonderful idea the other day... If there is a bad storm forming, fill a cup of water and freeze it. Put a quarter (or something similar) on the top of the ice. If, at the end of the power outage, the quarter is at the bottom of a cup of water, everything in your freezer should be chucked out. If it's only half-way down or higher, you should be able to salvage the freezer's contents.
There are these new battery operated tiny lights on. Some call them Fairy Lights. A lot of bars use them as table lights. I put them in vases, jars or whatever is available. when they are in the vase, they light up an area just as good or better than a candle. The batteries last about 6 hours of continuous use. Very inexpensive to buy on Amazon or your local craft store.
