Power Outage Preparedness Checklist
Use official lists first. Ready.gov’s kit includes water, food, a flashlight, a battery or hand-crank radio and NOAA weather radio, a first-aid kit, extra batteries, a whistle, sanitation supplies, a manual can opener, local maps, and cash if you can. The American Red Cross recommends a two-week home supply. Add battery CO alarms, a keep-or-toss food plan, and written contacts.
This checklist is aligned with Ready.gov, the Red Cross, CDC, and USDA times used throughout 90 Days Without Power. It is not a shopping dare. Check items you already have, then fill gaps in the same order as the book: 72 hours, two weeks, then optional longer stores.
Household power outage checklist
Start with Ready.gov’s disaster-supply kit, then stretch water and food toward a two-week home supply (American Red Cross). Check what you already have.
Water, food, and the first two weeks
One gallon of water per person per day, commercially bottled if you can, plus no-cook food and a manual can opener.
Try to reach two weeks if you can store the weight safely. In heat, plan on more water. Label fill dates on anything you bottle yourself and replace it about every six months (Ready.gov).
Put appliance thermometers in the fridge and freezer now, before an outage, so you can apply USDA times later. See food safety and water math.
Safety, medicine, papers, and people
Battery CO and smoke alarms, medicines you actually take, paper phone numbers, and a named place to go if the house is too hot or too cold.
Write Poison Help (1-800-222-1222), 911, 988, and the Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5990) on paper. Note an out-of-area contact and two meeting places, which Ready.gov has recommended for family communication plans for years.
If someone uses insulin or a powered medical device, write the backup plan from the clinician or pharmacist, not from memory. City kit pages, such as Phoenix emergency management’s supply list, still track the same Ready.gov core items and remind you to review supplies twice a year.
Use the form on this page to request the first-72-hours action card. The full book includes printable checklists and a 12-month build-up calendar. The full book includes printable checklists and a 12-month build-up calendar.
The Ready.gov and Red Cross items, written as a household list
If you only copy one official list, copy Ready.gov’s kit and then stretch water and food toward the Red Cross two-week home supply.
Ready.gov’s basic disaster-supply kit includes water (one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation), food (a several-day supply of non-perishable items), a battery-powered or hand-crank radio and a NOAA weather radio, a flashlight, a first-aid kit, extra batteries, a whistle, dust masks, plastic sheeting and duct tape, moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties, a wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, a manual can opener, local maps, and a cell phone with chargers and a backup battery. That list is public. This page does not replace it.
The American Red Cross recommends a three-day kit if you may have to evacuate and at least a two-week supply of food and water at home, plus a seven-day supply of medications in kit guidance the book cites. CDC’s water page also encourages people to try to store a two-week supply of water if they can.
Add the safety pieces that official generator and heat pages assume you already thought about: battery-powered or battery-backup carbon monoxide alarms near sleeping areas (CDC), working smoke alarms, and a small ABC extinguisher. Add appliance thermometers so USDA food times are usable. Add paper copies of prescriptions, insurance contacts, and an out-of-area phone number.
Cash in small bills can matter if card networks are down; Ready.gov includes cash in some kit discussions. Store only what you can protect. Important documents belong in a waterproof pouch or a small fire-resistant box you can carry.
Review the kit twice a year. City of Phoenix emergency-management material, like many city pages, reminds residents to check supplies on a regular schedule. Eat what you store and replace it so you are not maintaining a museum of expired cans.
How to use the checklist without turning it into a personality
Check what you already own, buy the gaps that match official baselines, and stop when the plan fits your household and your storage space.
Renters should ignore advice that assumes a spare bedroom, a generator pad, and a gun safe. You can still store water jugs, a radio, light, a first-aid kit, copies of documents, and a go-bag. Ask a landlord before you change doors or install permanent hardware. See home security for reversible options.
Households with infants, elders, or disability equipment should customize early: formula or special diets, mobility aids, spare batteries or a labeled device backup, and a realistic leave plan. That customization is more important than owning every item in the Top 50.
Print this page if you want a paper copy, or use the form above to request the first-72-hours action card. 90 Days Without Power includes printable worksheets and a 12-month build-up calendar if you want the longer version.
Related guides: how to prepare for a 90-day blackout, water math, food safety, and family communications.
A 20-minute home walk-through you can do this week
Walk through the house with this list once while the power is on, and write down what is missing instead of trying to remember later.
Stand at the breaker panel and make sure you can open it in the dark. Find the water shutoff and the gas shutoff if your home has gas; Ready.gov includes a wrench or pliers for utility shutoff in the basic kit, and you should only shut gas off if you know how and when officials or the utility say it is appropriate.
Open the fridge and freezer and drop a thermometer in each. Look at medicines and write expiration dates and refrigeration needs. Look at pet food and water. Look at the flashlight drawer and test each light. Look at smoke and CO alarms and read whether they are plug-in only.
Write the out-of-area contact and two meeting places on a card by the door. Charge the backup battery. Put shoes and a small go-bag where you would grab them. That half hour will reveal more gaps than another hour of reading about hypothetical 90-day scenarios.
If you want recommended products after you know the gaps, use the Top 50 list as a catalog, not as a required receipt. Official kit items come first.
Questions people ask
What official list should I start with?
Start with Ready.gov’s disaster-supply kit, then stretch water and food toward the American Red Cross two-week home supply.
How often should I check the kit?
Review it at least twice a year so food, water you bottled yourself, medicines, and batteries are still good.