Power Outage Checklist

Build the checklist around your household, not a fantasy bunker.

Begin with a three-day baseline. Ready.gov’s basic supply kit recommends water, non-perishable food, a battery or hand-crank radio, a flashlight, extra batteries, first aid, a manual can opener, and local maps. Those are sensible basics because they still work when the grid, mobile service, and shops are unreliable.

But the exact list should reflect the home you actually live in. A person who uses refrigerated medicine, oxygen, a CPAP, a mobility device, or another powered device needs a specific backup plan developed with the relevant clinician, supplier, or utility. A household on a well pump may lose running water when electricity fails. Families with babies, pets, older relatives, or anyone sensitive to heat or cold should make those needs visible on the list, not leave them for the moment the lights go out.

Keep the kit boringly reachable. A labelled bin in a hall closet is more useful than excellent supplies split between a garage, a car, and three drawers. Tell every adult and capable older child where it is. Add a printed copy of this checklist or your own one-page version, so the plan does not disappear when a phone battery does.

Check light, phone power, and information first.

Use flashlights or battery lanterns, not candles, as the default light source. Candles add an open flame at the same moment a household may be moving around in the dark, managing children or pets, or looking for supplies. Put one flashlight beside each bed, another near the kit, and a spare where you can reach it without climbing or opening a dark garage.

Charge power banks before severe weather and keep the right charging cords with them. A charged phone is useful, but it is not the whole communication plan. The American Red Cross recommends a paper contact list, a battery or crank radio, and communication options that do not rely on the home’s electricity. Write down the utility number, an out-of-area contact, a nearby safe place, medical contacts, and the people your household will check on.

Sign up for alerts from your local emergency management office and utility before an event. During an outage, those alerts can matter more than social posts. They may carry evacuation orders, boil-water notices, cooling or warming centre information, and restoration updates. If you see a downed line, stay away, keep others away, and report it through emergency services or the utility. Do not try to move debris around it.

Make water and food decisions before the weather changes.

Store at least one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, which is the Ready.gov starting point for drinking and sanitation. Add water for pets, high temperatures, hygiene, or a home where an electric pump means a power loss may also cut off the tap. Rotate stored water, and keep it somewhere that is cool, accessible, and not likely to flood.

Choose familiar shelf-stable food that can be eaten with little or no cooking. Beans, canned fish, nut butter, shelf-stable milk, crackers, fruit, and easy snacks are often more useful than expensive foods nobody will eat. Keep a manual can opener in the same bin. If you use a camp stove or grill, use it outdoors and follow the manufacturer’s safety instructions. Never use fuel-burning cooking equipment indoors or in a garage.

Have a cooler, ice packs, and appliance thermometers ready before the power fails. When it does, keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Ready.gov notes that a refrigerator will keep food cold for about four hours, while a full freezer can hold a safe temperature for about 48 hours. For the details that decide whether food is safe, use the FoodSafety.gov outage chart, not smell or wishful thinking. Our power outage food-safety guide walks through those choices more carefully.

Plan for health, temperature, and the moment staying home stops being safe.

Write down who has a health-related need that changes the plan. That may include a powered medical device, refrigerated medicine, a need for regular heat or cooling, or limited mobility. Confirm how long batteries last, who to call, where a charging or cooling option exists, and how the person can leave safely if needed. This is not a problem to solve after the outage begins.

Pay attention to the conditions outside as much as the lights inside. In extreme heat, a dark house can become dangerous quickly. In cold weather, a home can lose heat faster than expected, especially after a long outage. The Red Cross advises having a support network and an evacuation plan, including for pets. Identify a friend, family member, or public location you could reach before the home becomes unsafe, and decide how you would get there if garage doors, lifts, traffic lights, and mobile networks are affected.

Make the small home-specific checks too. Know how to open the garage manually. Keep keys, shoes, coats, and important documents where they can be found in the dark. If you use a sump pump, well pump, electrically operated lock, or medical refrigerator, name it on the list. A practical checklist turns hidden dependencies into decisions you can make while calm.

Use backup power only when it is part of a safe plan.

A generator is not the first item on every checklist. Water, light, food, communication, and health needs come first. If your household does use a portable generator, keep it outdoors, away from doors, windows, and vents, and never run it in a garage, shed, basement, or partly enclosed area. Carbon monoxide is odorless and can be deadly.

Do not plug a generator into a wall outlet or improvise a connection to home wiring. If you need selected circuits powered, speak with a qualified electrician about a transfer switch before an outage. Make a short list of only the equipment that truly needs power, and check its requirements ahead of time. The generator safety guide covers placement, alarms, cords, fuel, and home-wiring mistakes in detail.

For many homes, a charged power bank, a cooler, a good flashlight, and a written plan solve more immediate problems than a complicated backup-power setup. The point is not to own every option. It is to know the limits of the options you have.

Turn the list into a calm ten-minute routine.

A checklist only helps when it is easy to refresh. Pick two dates each year, such as the clocks changing or the start of your local storm season. Open the bin, test every flashlight, charge the power banks, replace damaged cords, and use or replace food that is approaching its date. Check that the radio works and that the paper list still has the right phone numbers.

Then take a slow walk through the home. Find the manual garage release, the electrical panel, the water shutoff, shoes that can be worn outside, and the safest place for the family to meet if rooms are dark or a quick departure is needed. Update your plan when a baby arrives, a pet joins the household, a prescription changes, or someone begins relying on equipment that needs electricity. Preparation works best as a small household habit, not a one-time shopping trip.

Power outage checklist to review twice a year.

1. Put safe light where people sleep. Test flashlights and replace weak batteries.
2. Store water and familiar food. Keep a manual can opener, cooler, ice packs, and appliance thermometers nearby.
3. Charge backup phone power. Keep charging cords, a radio, and a paper contact list in the same place.
4. List the household’s health needs. Confirm plans for medicines, medical equipment, heat, cooling, and mobility.
5. Know your alerts and exit plan. Save local alert sources, utility contacts, a safe place to go, and how to check on others.
6. Check home-specific dependencies. Include a well pump, garage door, sump pump, locks, pets, or anything else that changes the plan.
7. Review backup-power safety. Keep generators outdoors only and do not connect them to home wiring without a proper transfer switch.