Losing electricity is the most likely disruption any household faces, and the one that unlocks the others: no power means no refrigeration, dark stairs, phones that die, a well pump that stops, a furnace or air conditioner that will not run, and medical equipment that goes quiet. Most outages end in hours. Some, after a storm, a wildfire, an earthquake or a planned safety shutoff, last for days.
This page explains what to have and why. Ready.gov’s power outage page says what to do before, during and after, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s generator guide, with the manufacturer’s instructions, governs where and how a generator may be run. Both are cited below.
Why it matters
Extended outages may disrupt refrigeration, communications, fuel and water pumping. A household that has thought about light, cold food, charging and heat handles a long outage as an inconvenience. The danger in an outage is rarely the dark itself. It is what people do in the dark: run a generator in the garage, bring a charcoal grill inside for warmth, light candles near curtains, or open the freezer over and over. Carbon monoxide and fire are the dangers that follow, and both are preventable.
What to have
Light. Flashlights and headlamps, not candles, with spare batteries stored beside them. A headlamp leaves hands free for a child or a stove.
A way to charge a phone. A charged power bank, a car charger, or a small solar charger.
A battery or hand-crank radio so that official information still reaches you when the internet and cell towers are down. Communications covers this.
A plan for the refrigerator and freezer. Keep the doors closed; USDA says how long the food inside stays safe, and the Food page explains how to use that guidance.
Warmth or cooling that needs no electricity. Blankets, warm layers and a room the household can share in winter; shade, water and a cooler place to go in a heat wave. Ready.gov describes how to stay warm and cool safely.
A carbon monoxide alarm with battery backup, placed where the CPSC and the alarm’s own instructions say, because the carbon monoxide in an outage usually comes from something a well-meaning person brought inside.
A plan for anyone who depends on powered medical equipment or refrigerated medicine. Ready.gov says to talk with the medical provider ahead of time about a backup plan. Many utilities also keep a register of customers who rely on powered equipment, so that you are warned before a planned shutoff; ask yours whether it does. Medical has more.
A generator, if you choose to have one, with the rules that come with it, which is why the next section exists.
Generators, grills and camp stoves: never indoors
This is the one rule on this page with no exceptions. Generators, charcoal or gas grills, and camp stoves are never used inside a home, a garage, a basement, a carport, a tent, or any partly enclosed space, and never near a window, door or vent. They produce carbon monoxide, which you cannot see or smell and which kills people in their sleep. Opening a door or a window does not make it safe.
Where a generator may be placed, how far from the house, how it is refueled, and how it is connected to anything are governed by the manufacturer’s instructions and the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s generator safety guide. This site does not state a distance. Read both before the outage, follow them exactly, and keep the carbon monoxide alarm working. A generator is never plugged into a wall outlet or wired into the house except by a licensed electrician using a transfer switch, because backfeeding can electrocute a utility worker on the line.
What to do when it stops
- Report the outage to your utility, so that it knows the extent, and check its outage map for an estimate.
- Turn off or unplug appliances and electronics that were running, so that a surge when the power returns does not damage them, and so that a stove left on does not become a fire. Ready.gov explains this step.
- Leave one light switched on so you know when power is back.
- Keep the refrigerator and freezer closed and start the food plan.
- Check on the people who need power most: in your home, then next door.
- If you use a generator, set it up as the CPSC guide and the manual say — outdoors, away from the house, with the carbon monoxide alarm on.
Who may need help
Anyone on home oxygen, a ventilator, a powered wheelchair, a stair lift, a hospital bed or a refrigerated medication. Elders in a top-floor apartment whose elevator has stopped. Households with an infant in a heat wave or a cold snap. People who cannot see well in the dark. Neighbors who cannot get to a cooling or warming center. These are the doors to knock on first.
What not to do
Do not run anything that burns fuel indoors, for any reason, for any length of time. Do not light candles for general lighting. Do not plug a generator into a wall outlet. Do not go near a downed power line, and do not drive through water that may hide one. Do not open the freezer to check on it. And do not assume the outage will be short; start the plan on the first evening.
Longer disruptions
When an outage stretches from days into weeks, fuel for generators runs out, batteries die, and the question becomes systems: who has a generator and can share a freezer or an outlet for charging, where the utility and the county are setting up charging and cooling centers, how a church hall with a generator becomes the neighborhood’s refrigerator. Ready.gov stays your authority for the household; the Community pages take up the rest.