The power went out during an ice storm two winters ago. My apartment dropped to fifty degrees in about four hours. I was not prepared. I had a flashlight with dead batteries and one candle that burned for maybe forty minutes before I realized I had no backup plan.

I have since built a small winter outage kit. It fits in a shoebox and has already been used twice.

The First Thirty Minutes: What Actually Matters

1. Report the outage. Your power company has an app or a text number. Report it immediately — they prioritize by outage cluster size, and a single house might not register unless you tell them.
2. Unplug electronics. When power returns, it can surge. Unplug computers, TVs, and anything expensive. Leave one lamp switched on so you know when power is back.
3. Keep the fridge and freezer closed. A full freezer stays cold about 48 hours. A half-full one, about 24 hours. The fridge is safe for about 4 hours. Open only when absolutely needed.

Staying Warm Without Power

• Pick one room and stay in it. Close the door. Stuff towels under the door crack. Body heat in a small space adds up.
• Layer up before you feel cold. Once you are already shivering, adding a sweater helps less. Put on layers early.
• Hot water bottles. If you have a gas water heater that still works, fill bottles or jars with hot water and put them under blankets with you. No gas water heater? Heat water on a camp stove outside — never use a camp stove indoors.
• Do not use your oven for heat. Gas ovens produce carbon monoxide. People die doing this every winter. Do not do it.

The Kit I Built

Shoebox-sized plastic bin: two LED flashlights with fresh batteries, a battery pack for phone charging, three emergency candles with a lighter, a mylar blanket, hand warmers, a printed list of emergency numbers, and two protein bars. Total cost was about thirty dollars. I check the batteries every October.