Power Outage Prep for Apartments and Renters

In short

Ask your building now what still works without power: heat, water above the lower floors, elevators, door entry, hallway lights.
Above about the sixth floor, water pressure often depends on electric pumps. Store water.
You cannot run fuel-burning generators or heaters in an apartment. Use batteries.
Decide early where you would go, and how you would get down the stairs.

Ask the building five questions

Ask the manager or landlord now, while everything works. Write the answers down.

Does the building have a backup generator, what does it run, and for how long?
Does water reach my floor without power? Many taller buildings use booster pumps.
How is the building heated, and does the heat need electricity?
Do the entry doors, garage door and fire alarms work in an outage?
Who do I call, and how will the building tell residents what is happening?

Water is the big one

If your water depends on a pump, you may lose it within hours, and the toilets with it. Store drinking water where you can reach it, in containers you can lift. Small containers stacked in a closet beat one barrel you cannot move. The water guide covers how much, and when the toilets stop working covers the rest.

Heat you are allowed to use

You cannot safely run a generator on a balcony, and most leases and fire codes ban fuel-burning heaters and stored propane indoors. That leaves the things that actually work in an apartment:

One small room, door closed, everyone in it.
Layers, hats, sleeping bags rated for the cold, and blankets over windows at night.
Warm food and drinks if you have a safe way to make them.
A plan to leave before the cold becomes dangerous.

Apartments do have one advantage: the neighbours' walls lose heat more slowly than outside walls do. A middle unit cools far more slowly than a detached house.

Power without a generator

A portable power station is a large battery with ordinary outlets. It makes no exhaust, so it is the one backup power source you can use indoors. It will run phones, lights, a radio and some medical devices. It will not heat your apartment.

Stairs, elevators and getting out

Elevators stop. If anyone in your home cannot manage the stairs, tell the building and your local fire department now, not during the outage.
Keep a flashlight by the door. Stairwell emergency lights usually last only an hour or two.
Carrying water up many flights is hard work. That is another reason to store it in advance.
Know two places you could go and how you would get there without a car.

Your neighbours are part of the plan

In a building, what one unit does affects everyone, good and bad. Learn the names of the people on your floor, especially anyone older or living alone. Agree on something small and specific, like a knock at 9 each morning.

What renters should not touch

Do not drain, shut off or alter shared plumbing, heating or electrical systems yourself. Report problems to management and let them handle the building. Your job is your own unit and the people in it.

Sources

Official guidance this page was checked against. If your local authority says something different, follow them.