Summary
Stage 1 - Implement Immediately
Stage 2 - Implement after 2 hours
Stage 3 - Implement after 8 hours
Stage 4 - Implement after 16 hours
When power is lost the first question that goes through our mind is "How long will we be without power?" Unless the power just flickers, we have no idea how long we will be without power.
The following stages - included in your Power Outage Plan - are just illustrative and should be customized to you and your family. Because you have a written plan that you have thought through - and maybe even practiced - taking action in steps based on how long power has been out can help make the inconvenience more tolerable and much less stressful. Of course all bets are off if it is obvious an earthquake has just occurred.
The goal of Stage 1 is assessment and preparation. You want first to find out as much as you can about the scope of the outage and what caused it. For example, if it is dark, and after you grab a flashlight, you look outside and see your neighbors' homes lit up, the outage is probably localized to your house. Or if all is dark outside but you turn on your battery powered AM/FM/NOAA radio and hear nothing about an emergency situation, you can safely conclude the outage is localized to your neighborhood, a few streets, or perhaps a portion of the city. Another clue to the severity of the outage is seeing if you have wireless service. If you have service, start making some calls to neighbors several streets away and text Rocky Mountain Power's outage number (text OUT to 759677). You will get a reply from Rocky Mountain Power with a status as soon as it is known. If you have a GMRS radio, tune to Channel 17 (the Butler Hill Ward/Precinct Emergency Channel) and listen for traffic. As more and more people are on the air, sharing of information will be invaluable to help everyone deal with the situation. Click or Touch HERE for a step-by-step guide to using your GMRS radio when there is a power outage.
After you have a rough idea of the scope of the outage, start to assemble your light sources for your family members and deploy lanterns throughout your home per your plan. Don't open your refrigerator or freezer. If it is cold, start to assemble jackets/coats and blankets. Keep your GMRS radio on throughout the outage and let others know your status every 15 minutes or so.
Using your plan, refresh your memory about what type of emergency gear you have and where it is stored. A comprehensive gear inventory is an invaluable part of your plan. When you need something you don't want to have to search for it. You need to be able to go immediately to where it is stored. It is also a good idea to have your gear grouped by which stage it would be needed. More about that later.
As we approach being without power for 2 hours, the situation is becoming worse. Hopefully details are becoming available about the reason and expected duration of the power outage. Most of us can handle not doing much for 2 hours. Food in our refrigerator and freezer will be fine for up to four hours. But now we need to take action to preserve food. There are a number of options. Optimally we can get our battery powered generator and plug in the refrigerator and/or freezer. If we don't have a battery generator, but we have a gas or propane powered generator we can start it up, make sure it is outside far enough from the house to prevent carbon monoxide from entering the house, get our long heavy-duty extension cord and plug in the refrigerator and/or freezer. Hopefully the battery powered generator was charged and you had fresh gasoline for the gas generator. Luckily, refrigerators and freezers do not take large amounts of power since they cycle on and off. But keeping your refrigerator and/or freezer operating is a big relief because you will soon need to think about eating. (see How to Keep a Refrigerator Running)