Keep food as safe as possible.
- Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. First use perishable food from the refrigerator. An unopened refrigerator will keep foods cold for about 4 hours.
- Then use food from the freezer. A full freezer will keep the temperature for about 48 hours (24 hours if it is half full) if the door remains closed.
- If it looks like the power outage will continue beyond a day, prepare a cooler with ice for your freezer items. Inexpensive Styrofoam coolers work well.
Protect your electrical equipment.
- Turn off and unplug all unnecessary electrical equipment (except your refrigerator and freezer).
- Turn off or disconnect any appliances (like stoves), equipment, or electronics you were using when the power went out.
- Leave 1 light turned on so you’ll know when the power comes back on.
Safety tips for using backup generators.
- Use generators only as independent power sources. Keep them outside and run a cord inside. Don’t connect generators to main service panels. This could injure or kill utility workers trying to restore power.