72-Hour Power Outage: Complete Family Guide

The Scenario You Are Most Likely to Face

A 72-hour power outage is not a dramatic SHTF event. It is the most common preparedness scenario in the United States — severe storms, ice storms, and grid failures create multi-day outages for millions of households every year. More than any other scenario, this is the one you will actually face.

The families who handle it well are comfortable. The families who handle it poorly are cold, eating fast food because their food went bad, and burning $150 on hotel rooms that were already booked by the third night. The gap between them is about $500 in preparation and a few hours of thinking.

Before It Happens: The Decisions to Make Now

Water

Your municipality stops pumping water when the grid goes down in most situations — or at minimum, water pressure drops significantly within 24 hours as reservoir levels fall.

Store 1 gallon per person per day minimum. For a family of four over 72 hours: 12 gallons minimum, 24 gallons to be comfortable.

• Fill the bathtub with a WaterBOB bladder ($30) when a storm is approaching — holds 100 gallons from the tap
• Keep a minimum of 20 gallons stored in approved food-grade containers at all times
• Know where your nearest stream, lake, or outdoor water source is — and own a quality water filter

Food

A 72-hour food supply should require no refrigeration and minimal cooking:

| Item | Quantity (family of 4) | Notes | |------|----------------------|-------| | Canned goods (soups, beans, meat) | 20+ cans | Pull-tab preferred; easy opener backup | | Peanut butter | 2 large jars | High calorie, long shelf life | | Crackers, hardtack | 4 boxes | Bread substitute | | Oats, granola | 5 lbs | Cold soaking works; no cooking required | | Dried fruit, nuts | 4 lbs | Dense calories, no prep | | Canned vegetables | 12+ cans | Nutrition balance |

Camp stove: Own a propane camp stove and three 1-lb canisters. Use it outdoors only.

Heat

For a winter outage, heating is the life-safety issue.

Best options in order:

1. Wood stove or fireplace with adequate firewood supply
2. Propane wall heater (Mr. Heater Big Buddy is the standard choice — approved for indoor use with adequate ventilation)
3. Kerosene heater (less preferred — more smoke and odor)
4. Generator powering a space heater

The safe room strategy: If you cannot heat the whole house, identify one interior room (fewest exterior walls, fewest windows) and concentrate heat and people there. A well-insulated interior room with body heat and sleeping bags can be maintained at 50°F+ even in severe cold without active heating.

Pipe protection: Your pipes will freeze if the house drops below 32°F. Open cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls. Allow a slow drip from faucets. Shut off water to the house and drain if abandoning for more than 24 hours.

Lighting

• Headlamps per person (minimum 200 lumens) with fresh batteries
• 3-6 quality candles per room (pillar candles, 40+ hour burn time)
• Portable LED lanterns with extra batteries
• Glow sticks for kids (safe, long-lasting)

Never use candles near flammable materials or leave them unattended. Carbon monoxide detectors with battery backup should be operational.

Hour-by-Hour Response

Hour 1-4: Assessment and Preservation

1. Check your neighbors. Elderly and medically dependent neighbors need to know the outage occurred.
2. Stop opening the refrigerator. Every opening loses 4°F.
3. Inventory your flashlight batteries and candles. Replace any dead batteries now before it is dark.
4. Check the utility company outage map. Is this a 4-hour outage or a 4-day outage? The answer changes everything.
5. Fill the bathtub. Do this before water pressure drops.

Hour 4-24: Normalization

1. Set up your camp stove in a safe outdoor or garage location for cooking
2. Eat refrigerator food first — it will not last. Cook and consume before opening the freezer.
3. Establish a light and heating routine. Conserve candles and fuel by gathering everyone in one room in the evening.
4. Charge devices on any vehicle battery that can handle it, or solar charger if available.

Hour 24-72: Sustained Operations

1. Begin using stored food systematically — oldest items first
2. Manage body heat in cold conditions — active movement, warm layers, staying dry
3. Monitor carbon monoxide if using any combustion heating indoors
4. Check in with neighbors every 24 hours — vulnerability compounds over time

The Critical Safety Rules

Carbon monoxide: Every year, dozens of people die from CO poisoning during power outages from generators and heaters used incorrectly. Non-negotiable rules:

• Generators operate outside only — minimum 20 feet from windows and doors
• Propane camp stoves operate outside only — or in a well-ventilated garage with the door open
• Never operate a charcoal grill indoors
• Battery-powered CO detectors are required if you use any combustion indoors

Candle fire safety: One-third of home candle fires start when candles are left unattended. Set a phone alarm to extinguish candles when you go to sleep.

Food safety: When in doubt, throw it out. The cost of discarded food is far less than the cost of a family with food poisoning during an emergency.

After Power Returns

1. Check all food — discard anything from the refrigerator that was above 40°F for more than 2 hours
2. Inspect pipes for any freezing damage before restoring water pressure fully
3. Restock your supplies immediately — the next outage is not hypothetically going to happen; it will happen
4. Note what you were missing and add it to your supply list