The First 72 Hours

Why 72 hours?

After a big storm, utility crews, emergency services and stores are overwhelmed. Officials ask every household to be able to take care of itself for at least three days, and ideally two weeks. In the November 2015 Inland Northwest windstorm, about 180,000 Avista customers lost power, and the last ones were out for almost ten days.

You don't need a bunker. You need a routine and a few supplies you already mostly own.

Day 1: Stabilize

Goal: everyone safe, food protected, a plan for the night.

• Set up a "home base" room: one room you'll keep warm (or cool), with light, water, snacks, a radio, and a place to charge phones.
• Eat from the fridge first. It's the first food to spoil. Then the freezer, then the pantry.
• Put a thermometer in the fridge and freezer. Checking with a thermometer beats guessing, and you'll save food you'd otherwise throw out.
• Count your water. Bottled water, filled pots, the water heater (40–50 gallons of emergency water — see Water).
• Set a phone schedule. One phone stays on for news and emergencies. Others go off or into airplane mode to save battery.
• Before dark: put a flashlight or headlamp at every bed, and walk the house so nobody trips on the stairs in the dark.

Day 2: Settle into a routine

Goal: eat well, stay clean, conserve fuel and batteries.

• Cook once, eat twice. Use your camp stove (outdoors) or grill for one hot meal a day. Hot food is a big morale boost. See Cooking without power.
• Sanitation matters now. If water or sewer is out, set up a bucket toilet before you need it. Wash hands with soap or use sanitizer before every meal.
• Ration generator fuel. Run it a few hours, two or three times a day — enough to chill the fridge, pump the well, charge batteries. Running it all night wastes fuel and draws attention.
• Check on neighbors again, and trade what you have extra of.
• Kids: keep a normal rhythm — meals, chores, games, bedtime. A "camping at home" attitude helps everyone.

Day 3 and beyond: Long-haul mode

Goal: decide whether to stay or go, and protect the house.

• Reassess every morning. Is the home still safe and warm (or cool) enough? Is anyone's health slipping — cold hands and confusion, heat exhaustion, missed medications? If yes, it's time to go to a warming or cooling center, or to family.
• Freezer decisions. Food that still has ice crystals, or is 40°F or below, can be refrozen or cooked. Throw out anything perishable that has been warm too long.
• Protect the plumbing. In freezing weather, if the house is going below 40°F, consider shutting off the main water and draining the pipes. See Winter storms & ice.
• Restock. When stores reopen, they're mobbed. Go early, with a list, and expect empty shelves for batteries, bread and water.

Your daily outage checklist

Print this and post it on the fridge.

• Morning: check fridge/freezer temperatures (and write them down)
• Morning: check outage map / radio for updates
• Charge phones and radios (power bank, car, generator)
• One hot meal; drink plenty of water
• Check every CO alarm and smoke alarm (press test)
• Check on a neighbor
• Refill water containers if the taps still work
• Before dark: lights at every bed, door locks checked, generator secured
• Night: fuel-burning appliances off unless designed and vented for indoor use

Sources: Ready.gov — Build a Kit · Avista storm restoration report, 2015 · FEMA — Are You Ready?