The first hour of a power outage: what to do, in order

Last updated October 16, 2026

In the first hour of a power outage: confirm it is the grid and not your breaker, report it to your utility, turn one light on so you know when power returns, keep the fridge shut, fill water if your supply depends on a pump, and check on the neighbors who might need help. Then settle in. Most outages end within hours.

The order matters more than the speed. Here is the sequence we use, with the reasons, because a checklist you understand is one you will actually follow when the lights go out at 9 p.m. and the kids are asking what happened.

Minute 0: is it you or the grid?

Look out the window. If the neighbors' lights and the streetlights are out, it is the grid. If yours is the only dark house, go to the breaker panel and look for a switch sitting in the middle position; flip it fully off, then on. If it trips again, leave it off and call an electrician, not the utility.

Most utilities have an outage map that loads on a phone. Bookmark yours now, on a day with power, because you will not remember the URL in the dark.

Minute 2: report it, and save 911 for danger

Report the outage to your utility by app, text, or phone, even if you assume they know. Utilities build their repair map from reports, and a cluster of them moves a neighborhood up the list. Call 911 only for a hazard: a downed line, a fire, a medical emergency, someone on oxygen whose backup has failed. A downed line can be live without sparking, so assume every one is, stay well back, and keep others back too.

Minute 5: one light on, the rest off

Switch one lamp on and leave it. When it lights, you know the power is back without checking. Then unplug the computer, the TV, and anything with a sensitive board, because the surge when service returns can be harder on electronics than the outage was. If the stove was on, make sure it is off now; an electric burner left on will come back on when the power does.

Minute 10: do not open the fridge

This is the one people get wrong because it feels like doing something. The U.S. food safety guidance is simple: a refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours if the door stays closed. A full freezer holds for about 48 hours, a half-full one for about 24. Every opening shortens that. Tape a note on the door if it helps.

Appliance	Safe window with the door closed
Refrigerator	About 4 hours
Freezer, full	About 48 hours
Freezer, half full	About 24 hours

After the window closes, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and milk go. Frozen food that still has ice crystals or reads 40 degrees or below can be refrozen. If something smells or feels warm, out it goes, and nobody tastes anything to check. A cheap fridge thermometer turns this from guessing into reading.

Minute 15: water, if your water needs power

City water on a gravity system usually keeps flowing through a short outage. Three situations do not: a private well (the pump is electric), a tall building with a booster pump, and a long regional outage where the treatment plant's backup runs out. If any of those is you, fill containers and the bathtub now while there is pressure. Tub water is for flushing and washing; drinking water comes from clean containers or gets treated first. We wrote a separate piece on how much water a household needs and where it goes.

Minute 20: phones into low power, one person on information duty

Every phone into low power mode, screens dim. If there is no signal, airplane mode, because a phone searching for a tower drains faster than a phone in use. Texts get through on a weak network when calls will not, and a sent text keeps retrying by itself. Pick one phone to be the household's radio, map, and news source, and let the others rest. A battery-powered or hand-crank radio tuned to NOAA Weather Radio or a local AM station covers the same job with no battery anxiety; the two-way radios in our kits pick up both.

Minute 25: light that will not burn the house down

Headlamps and LED lanterns first, candles last or never. Candle fires rise during outages every year, and a headlamp leaves both hands free for the breaker panel. A strand of LED string lights on a small battery will light a living room for an evening on almost nothing, which is the part of an outage that can be pleasant if you let it.

Minute 30: heat and cooking, the rule that is not negotiable

Nothing that burns fuel runs indoors. Not a generator, not a charcoal grill, not a camp stove, not a propane heater, not the oven as a room heater, and not in the garage with the door open either. Carbon monoxide has no smell and generators alone kill about 70 people a year in the United States, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you run a generator, it sits at least 20 feet from the house with the exhaust pointed away from every window and door, and a battery-backed CO alarm is inside. The same rules apply to the portable bonfire in our kit: porch, patio, or yard with clearance, never inside.

A gas range's burners can usually be lit with a match when the electric igniter is dead; check your manual. The oven cannot, and should not be used for heat regardless. Dress in layers, close off unused rooms, and gather in one.

Minute 40: the people who need the first knock

Someone on your block uses an oxygen concentrator, a CPAP, a powered wheelchair, or insulin that lives in the fridge. Someone is elderly and alone. Someone has a newborn. The first hour is when a knock on the door costs nothing and means the most. If a neighbor depends on a powered medical device, help them call the utility's medical priority line; most utilities keep a registry, and the time to sign up is before the outage, which is worth mentioning at the next block gathering.

Insulin and most refrigerated medications tolerate room temperature for a while; the label or the pharmacist will say how long. A cooler with ice buys more time.

Minute 50: settle in

By now you know whether it is the grid, the utility knows about you, the food is safe, the water is in hand, the phones are rationed, and the neighbors are checked. The rest is an evening. Popcorn on the bonfire, the card deck, the radio. U.S. customers averaged about 11 hours of interruption across all of 2024, and the ordinary non-storm outage runs about two hours. The first hour is the drill; most of the time, the second hour is the lights coming back on.

Questions people ask

Should I call 911 during a power outage?

Only for a hazard: a downed line, a fire, a medical emergency. Report the outage itself to your utility.

How long will food last in the refrigerator without power?

About four hours with the door closed. A full freezer lasts about 48 hours, a half-full freezer about 24.

Can I use my gas stove when the power is out?

The burners, usually, lit with a match if the igniter is electric; check the manual. Not the oven, and never the stove as a room heater.

Is it safe to run a generator in the garage with the door open?

No. Carbon monoxide builds up anyway. Generators run outdoors, at least 20 feet from the house, exhaust pointed away from windows and doors.

Will my phone work during an outage?

Often, for a while. Cell towers have backup batteries that can run out in a long outage. Texts get through more reliably than calls, and airplane mode saves your battery when there is no signal.

Sources

• FoodSafety.gov: Three ways to keep food safe when you lose power
• Ready.gov: Power outages
• U.S. PIRG Education Fund, citing the Consumer Product Safety Commission: portable generator carbon monoxide deaths and the 20-foot rule
• U.S. Energy Information Administration: electricity interruptions in 2024
• National Weather Service: NOAA Weather Radio