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This guide provides general emergency-preparedness information. Follow current instructions from local emergency officials. For questions about a specific medicine, contact a pharmacist, health care provider, or the manufacturer.
Power-Outage Safety Brief
- Generator: Keep it outdoors and at least 20 feet from windows, doors, and vents.
- Carbon monoxide: Use a battery-powered or battery-backup CO detector.
- Refrigerator: An unopened refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours.
- Freezer: An unopened full freezer holds temperature for about 48 hours; a half-full freezer, about 24 hours.
- Medicine: Plan for refrigeration needs before an outage and seek product-specific advice when temperature exposure is uncertain.
A Blackout Plan Should Start Before the Lights Go Out
A useful power-outage plan is not a pile of gadgets. It is a short set of decisions your household can follow when the refrigerator is warming, phones are losing charge, and local conditions are changing.
Ready.gov’s power-outage guidance recommends preparing for an outage in advance, watching official alerts, and identifying needs that depend on electricity. That preparation fits naturally beside a written family emergency plan.
Write down who checks local alerts, who handles food and medicine, where flashlights are stored, and where the household will go if indoor temperatures become unsafe. Keep paper contact information available in case a phone battery dies.
Build a Small Outage Kit You Can Actually Find
The Ready.gov emergency-kit list includes water, nonperishable food, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, flashlights, first-aid supplies, extra batteries, and other basic items. A kit is useful only if household members know where it is and can reach it in the dark.
Start with the practical foundation in our essential prepper gear checklist. Then add outage-specific items:
- Battery-powered flashlights and lanterns
- Fresh batteries stored beside the devices they power
- A battery-powered or battery-backup carbon-monoxide detector
- Appliance thermometers for the refrigerator and freezer
- Coolers, frozen gel packs, and a plan for obtaining ice
- A written medicine list with doses and intended uses
- Bottled water stored away from possible floodwater
Generator Safety: Distance Is Not Optional
Carbon monoxide is colorless and odorless. The CDC power-outage safety guide warns that it can cause sudden illness and death.
Never operate a generator, pressure washer, or gasoline-powered engine inside a home, basement, or garage. The CDC also says not to operate one within 20 feet of a window, door, or vent. Opening garage doors or windows does not make an enclosed location safe.
Use an extension cord longer than 20 feet so the generator can remain at a safe distance. Place a battery-powered or battery-backup CO detector inside the home. Never use a charcoal grill, portable camping stove, gas range, or oven to heat an indoor space.
Headache, dizziness, weakness, nausea, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion can be symptoms of carbon-monoxide poisoning. The CDC says to call 911, Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222, or a health care professional right away when someone shows signs of poisoning. For additional context, read Power Outage Safety: Generator Distance, Food, Water, and Medicine: Label, Price and Buyer Checks.
Use the Four-Hour Refrigerator Rule
Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. The FDA’s food and water safety guidance says an unopened refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours. A full unopened freezer holds temperature for about 48 hours, while a half-full freezer holds it for about 24 hours.
Before an outage, place appliance thermometers in both compartments. The freezer should be at or below 0°F and the refrigerator at or below 40°F. Have coolers and ice available if an outage may continue beyond four hours.
After power returns, do not judge food by smell or appearance alone. FDA says refrigerated perishable food should be discarded when it has been above 40°F for four hours or more. Frozen food may be refrozen or cooked when it still contains ice crystals or measures 40°F or below.
For a broader reserve plan, use our 30-day food and water storage guide. Shelf-stable supplies reduce the pressure to rescue every refrigerated item.
Water Safety Can Change During an Outage
Power loss can affect water-treatment and pumping systems. CDC says safe water for drinking, cooking, and personal hygiene may include bottled, boiled, or treated water, while state, local, or tribal health departments provide location-specific instructions.
Do not assume tap water is safe after a local advisory. Use bottled water that has not contacted floodwater when available, and follow official boil or treatment instructions for your area. Our guide to off-grid power, water, and self-sufficiency can help you plan redundancy before an emergency.
Make a Medicine Plan Before Refrigeration Fails
The FDA’s disaster medicine guidance advises keeping an up-to-date medicine list, knowing how much is on hand, arranging early refills when pharmacy access may be disrupted, and having ice available for medicines that require refrigeration.
Heat, contaminated water, and loss of refrigeration can affect medicine safety or potency. FDA says medicines exposed to floodwater or contaminated municipal water should generally be discarded, even when they were in common screw-top, snap-lid, or dropper containers.
Some refrigerated medicines may lose potency when they warm. Do not apply one blanket time limit to every medicine. FDA advises contacting a pharmacist, health care provider, or the manufacturer when you are concerned about a particular product’s safety or effectiveness.
If a life-sustaining medicine is involved and replacement is not immediately available, follow current FDA guidance and obtain professional instructions as quickly as possible. Do not change a dose, stop treatment, or improvise storage based only on a general preparedness article.
A Simple First-Hour Checklist
- Confirm whether the outage is local and check official alerts.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed.
- Switch to flashlights or battery lanterns instead of candles when possible.
- Move any generator outdoors and at least 20 feet from openings before starting it.
- Confirm that the carbon-monoxide detector is operating.
- Note the outage start time for food-safety decisions.
- Check the plan for refrigerated medicine before temperatures drift.
- Leave for a safer location if heat, cold, smoke, flooding, or another hazard makes the home unsafe.
The Bottom Line
The strongest blackout plan protects people before it protects possessions. Generator placement, carbon-monoxide detection, closed refrigerator doors, appliance thermometers, safe water, and a medicine backup plan address the risks that become urgent first.
Keep the plan short, review it with everyone in the household, and update it when medicines, contact information, or local needs change. During a real emergency, current instructions from local authorities take priority over any general checklist.