Power, light, and cold

What actually stops

A dead grid is more than lamps. Refrigerators warm up. Some well pumps stop. Plug-in medical devices go quiet. Cordless phone bases and the router die. In a desert summer the air conditioner is the line between a nuisance and a medical emergency. In a hard freeze the same outage threatens pipes and anyone who heats with electricity.

Ready.gov’s outage page keeps the order simple: flashlights ready, a radio that does not need the wall, and outdoor burning equipment kept outdoors.

• LED lights and headlamps beat candles. Tired people knock candles over.
• Charge a power bank before the warning, not during it.
• List devices that must stay on: oxygen, CPAP, refrigerated medicine, a garage door you cannot lift by hand.
• Ask the device maker and your clinician about backup power. Do not invent a workaround for medical gear.

Generators and quiet poison

CDC tracks carbon monoxide as a storm killer because people run generators, grills, or camp stoves in garages. A garage, a porch, a crawlspace, and a room with the door cracked still count as indoors. Put a generator outside, exhaust pointed away from the house, well clear of windows and doors. Battery carbon-monoxide alarms belong on every level, including where people sleep. Test them.

Do not backfeed the house by plugging a generator into a wall outlet. That can energize lines and hurt the people repairing them. A transfer switch or interlock, installed by a qualified electrician, is the safe connection. Until you have one, use a cord rated for the load, outdoor-rated if it leaves the house, and uncoiled so it does not melt.

• Store gasoline only in approved containers, outside living space, and only in amounts local fire rules allow.
• Stale fuel gums small engines. Rotate it.
• A car USB port can charge a phone. Never idle a vehicle in a closed garage to do it.
• Leave one lamp on so you know when the grid returns. Unplug sensitive electronics before it does.

Spend scarce watts on people first

If backup power is small, spend it on medical needs, a way to hear warnings, and the food that spoils first. A full freezer, door shut, stays cold longer than a half-empty one. The USDA clock is on the food-safety sheet. In extreme heat, cooling people outranks saving a spare freezer of convenience food.