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Power Outage: Start Here

Do this first: check people before appliances. Anyone on powered medical equipment, oxygen, refrigerated medicine, mobility equipment, an elevator, heat, or AC? Check them now.

• Every phone on low-power mode.
• One short text: Power is out here. We're okay / need help. I'll update at ___.
• Report or check the outage once. Then stop refreshing.
• Fridge and freezer closed. Open once only if you must.
• Hold the house's temperature: close curtains, doors, unused rooms.
• On a well? Fill a few clean containers while water still runs.
• Unplug sensitive electronics. Leave one light on.
• Check one nearby person who may not ask.

If this happens, do this

• Medical power problem: call the device supplier, healthcare team, utility medical line if enrolled, local non-emergency line, or 911 as needed.
• Too hot or too cold: move earlier than you want to. Do not wait until someone is already sick.
• Thinking about a generator, grill, stove, or heater: do not bring fuel-burning equipment indoors, into a garage, or near windows or vents. Carbon monoxide is the danger.
• Food question: keep doors closed now. Decide later by time, temperature, and food-safety guidance.
• Downed line, sparks, gas smell, or flooding near electrical equipment: stay away and call for help.

Stop and get help if someone's body, breathing, medication, mobility, or safe temperature depends on power and there is no working backup plan.

The first hour of a power outage is the hour you'll wish you had spent on the next twelve.

From The Cairn Society. Free to copy, print, and share under CC BY-SA 4.0. cairnsociety.org