The first 72 hours without power

The first ten minutes

1. Stop and look. Is anyone hurt, is there smoke, do you smell gas? If you smell gas, leave and call the gas company or 911 from outside.
2. Check on anyone who uses a powered medical device. Find out how long its battery lasts. This sets your whole timetable. See medicines and devices.
3. Get a light. A flashlight or headlamp, not a candle.
4. Find out how big it is. Look out the window. Is it your home, your street or everything you can see? Check your breaker panel only if it is safe to reach.
5. Stay far away from downed lines and anything touching them. Report them.

The first hour

• Report the outage to your utility and note the time it started. Write it down. You will need it for the food.
• Close the fridge and freezer and leave them closed.
• Unplug sensitive electronics and turn off the stove and any heaters that were on, so nothing surprises you when power returns. Leave one light switched on so you know when it does.
• Fill containers with water while the taps still run. City pressure can drop later. On a well, the pump is already off.
• Send one useful message to one person outside the area: where you are, who is with you, when you will check in next. Then save the phone.

Before the first night

Do this while you still have daylight and energy.

• Choose one room to live and sleep in. Smaller is easier to keep warm. Close the doors to the rest of the house.
• Lay out lights, blankets, warm clothes and water where you can find them in the dark.
• Make sure a battery-powered carbon monoxide alarm is working near where people sleep.
• Eat a simple meal from food that will spoil first, if it has been kept cold.
• Set a time to decide. For example: "If it is still out and the room is below 10 °C (50 °F) by tomorrow noon, we go to my sister's."

Day two

• Check the people before the supplies. Anyone unusually confused, drowsy or unsteady in the cold needs help now.
• Deal with the fridge. After about four hours without power, perishable food in the fridge starts to become unsafe. Do not taste it to check. The food guide has the rules.
• Count what you have: drinking water in litres or gallons, meals you can eat without cooking, battery charge, medicine doses, fuel in the car.
• Get real news twice a day from a battery radio or your utility, then stop listening. See light and communication.
• Think about the pipes if the house is heading toward freezing. See pipes.

Day three

By the third morning you know what kind of outage this is. Ask three questions.

1. What runs out next? Water, warmth, medicine, phone charge or food. Whichever is closest is today's job.
2. Is this home still safe for everyone in it? A home that works for a healthy adult may not work for a baby, an older person or someone on medical equipment.
3. If we had to leave, where to and how? Decide while the roads are open and the car has fuel. Leaving early is not failing.

When the power comes back

• Turn things on a few at a time.
• Food does not become safe again just because it is cold again. Throw out anything that warmed up.
• If there was a boil-water notice, it still applies until officials lift it.
• Restock what you used, and write down what you wished you had.