Long Power Outage Planning: Two Weeks and Beyond

An extended outage is not one long checklist. It is a sequence of decisions about whether the household can safely cover the next day, whether supplies can be replaced, and whether another location would be safer. Use the Power Outage Home Resilience Manual for the first hour and first day; this guide takes over when restoration is uncertain. The day counts below are planning checkpoints, not a promise that conditions will improve.

Day 1: Protect people and establish facts

Start with official information and immediate hazards, not a gear inventory. The CDC power-outage guidance covers carbon monoxide, temperature, food, water, medication, electrical, and lighting risks.

1. Check for danger. Look and listen for smoke or carbon-monoxide alarms, fire, gas odor, flooding, damaged wiring, structural damage, or downed lines. Leave and call for help when needed; never approach a fallen power line.
2. Check official channels. Note the utility estimate, weather, evacuation or shelter notices, boil-water or do-not-use advisories, and road conditions. Record when you will check again.
3. Protect care needs. Confirm medication, powered medical equipment, mobility, infant, pet, and temperature needs for the next 24 hours. Contact the relevant clinician, equipment provider, utility, or emergency service before a backup runs out.
4. Protect food and water. Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed. Use safe stored or bottled water, and do not assume a tap, pool, stream, or heating system is a drinking source.
5. Preserve communication and light. Send one short status message, gather charging equipment, and use flashlights or battery lanterns rather than candles. Never use a grill or portable camp stove indoors. Keep generators outdoors and at least 20 feet from doors, windows, and vents, following the CDC power-outage guidance.

At the end of the first day, write down what is safe and available through tomorrow. That is the starting point for the next decision.

Day 3: Test the household runway

By the third day, compare the household’s remaining safe runway with the next 24–72 hours. The goal is not to reach a universal number; it is to find a problem while a safer option still exists.

For water, the CDC emergency-water guide uses at least 1 gallon per person per day for 3 days as a baseline and suggests trying for 2 weeks when possible. Add household-specific needs separately rather than treating that baseline as a guarantee.

For food, use the FoodSafety.gov power-outage chart: a refrigerator is generally limited to 4 hours, and a full freezer to about 48 hours (24 hours when half full) when doors stay closed. Never taste food to test whether it is safe.

Day 7: Choose stay, resupply, or relocate

Make a deliberate decision before the household reaches zero water, medication, safe food, communication, or safe temperature. Use the official information you recorded, not a restoration rumor.

• Stay and continue the daily check when the home remains safe, essential needs are covered through the next day, and the household has a working way to receive updates and ask for help.
• Resupply or ask for assistance when the home is safe but a critical need will run out before the next reliable source is available. Contact local emergency management, the utility, a care provider, or an established community service before the last supply is gone.
• Relocate when the home cannot remain safe, an official order applies, a necessary medical or temperature condition cannot be managed, or a safe route and destination are available while travel is still possible.

Keep the systems working beyond day 7

Water

Keep drinking and cooking water separate from water intended only for cleaning or flushing. Follow local advisories exactly. The CDC says bottled, boiled, or treated water may be needed after an emergency, but water containing fuel or toxic chemicals cannot be made safe by boiling or disinfection. Read the water storage safety guide for containers, labels, and rotation.

Food

Use familiar foods that can be eaten without power before adding cook-required meals. Plan water, fuel, opening tools, dietary needs, and waste together. The emergency food storage basics keeps the list practical; current food-safety decisions still come from FoodSafety.gov or local public health.

Power and temperature

List only loads that change safety or communication: medical equipment under professional guidance, a refrigerator when appropriate, a sump pump, a few lights, phones, or a modem. Use the exact battery, generator, inverter, and appliance manuals. The backup power systems guide can organize options, but it cannot approve wiring, transfer equipment, grounding, fuel storage, placement, or local-code compliance. Keep generators outdoors and at least 20 feet from doors, windows, and vents, with a battery-powered or battery-backup carbon-monoxide alarm inside, as specified in the CDC power-outage guidance.

Communication, care, and sanitation

Keep printed contacts, meeting places, local emergency numbers, an out-of-area contact, maps, medications, mobility supplies, pet supplies, and a go-bag where they can be reached without moving unsafe loads. The emergency communication plan provides a household-ready setup. Ask qualified professionals or local authorities for medical, electrical, fuel, plumbing, or security decisions that exceed the plan.

Reassess at the same time each day

Write the answers down using our printable Long Outage Decision Log so every household member and the out-of-area contact can see the current plan:

• Is the home still safe to occupy at the current temperature and sanitation level?
• Do we have safe water, medication, food, and device power through tomorrow?
• Have official orders, road closures, fire, flood, weather, or public-health notices changed the decision?
• Is anyone ill, isolated, overwhelmed, or unable to complete a necessary task?
• What is the next safe place, ride, assistance line, or resupply point if staying no longer works?

Before the next outage, use the Long Outage Decision Log to record daily priorities, a backup location, help contacts, and the conditions that would change the plan.