Last reviewed 30 October 2026
If the power grid fails, a family's needs arrive in a fixed order: water and no-cook food for the first 72 hours, sanitation and light immediately, cooking and information after that, and medicine throughout. The first three days and the second week are different problems — plan for both, in stages.
The first 72 hours
No power usually means no water pressure within a day or two, no refrigeration within hours, and no card payments or ATMs at all. Your 72-hour layer is: stored water (1 gallon per person per day — run your own numbers), food that needs no cooking or water — bars, ready meals, canned food — medications, diapers and wipes, lanterns, a power bank, cash in small bills, and a battery or crank radio. This is Stage 1 of this site's calculator, and it's the layer every family should have even if they build nothing else.
Days 4 to 14
Once the no-cook layer runs out, you need a way to cook (a camp stove used outdoors, with fuel), a way to make more water safe (filter, tablets, boiling), and a sanitation routine — a lined bucket system if toilets stop flushing, soap, and bleach for surfaces. Food monotony becomes a real problem in week two; staples plus a few things your kids genuinely like is a safety feature, not indulgence.
Light, heat and cooling
In a hot climate, cooling is the emergency: battery fans, shade, loose clothing, and fluids — small children and grandparents overheat first. In cold climates it's the reverse; never run generators, grills or camp stoves indoors for heat or cooking — carbon monoxide kills quietly in every major outage.
Medicine and the vulnerable
Two weeks of prescription medication if you can get it, a real first aid kit, and a plan for anything that needs refrigeration or power — insulin storage and medical devices change the calculation entirely and are worth a direct conversation with your doctor or pharmacist before an outage, not during one.
What not to waste money on
Huge freeze-dried buckets bought before you own water storage, candles as your lighting plan around children, and any kit sold by “servings” without a published total calorie count. Water, staples and a no-cook layer beat exotic gear at every stage.
Sources: Ready.gov — Power Outages · Ready.gov — Build a Kit
Build your family's grid-down plan stage by stage — 3 days, two weeks, a month and beyond — with the free DayCount Supply calculator.
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