Eight working chapters take you from household limits to a completed drill: stay, act, or leave conditions; one warm-zone map; one backup-heat decision; a pipe freeze-response card; a 72-hour stored-power budget; a 25-item outage station and gap list; a timed first-12-hours card; and a one-hour drill that ranks your three biggest gaps.
1. Set the Exact Conditions That Mean Stay, Act, or LeaveA completed Blackout Limits Sheet identifying what fails without electricity, who makes the final decision, immediate exit conditions, early relocation thresholds, two destination options, and every unconfirmed dependency.
2. Choose and Map the One Warm Zone Your House Can SupportA warm-zone diagram marking occupants, doors, windows, vents, exits, alarms, thermometer, sleeping positions, safe heater location if applicable, temporary heat-loss barriers, and the order in which the room will be set up.
3. Approve One Backup-Heat Plan—or Mark It UnsafeA heater readiness card classifying each available option as green, yellow, or red, with its permitted location, startup and shutdown sequence, clearances, ventilation requirements, fuel and runtime, detector checks, supervision rules, and failure signs. If nothing qualifies, the owned decision is heat retention plus earlier relocation.
4. Finish a Pipe Freeze-Response Card for Your HouseA pipe freeze-response card with a photographed and labeled main shutoff, vulnerable-pipe map, required tool location, and separate actions for a warm house, a cooling house, a suspected frozen pipe, and an active leak or burst.
5. Calculate a 72-Hour Stored-Power Budget Without GuessingA completed 72-hour stored-power budget listing each load's watts, daily hours, three-day watt-hours, priority, assigned power source, cold-weather limitation, charging schedule, and a 20 percent operating reserve.
6. Stage a 25-Item Outage Station and Produce the Gap ListA physically staged outage station containing all useful on-hand supplies, plus an inventory recording quantity, exact location, condition, test or replacement date, responsible person, and a purchase gap list ranked by life-safety value.
7. Write the First 12 Hours as a Timed Action CardA first-12-hours action card divided into the first 5 minutes, first 30 minutes, first hour, hours 1-4, hours 4-8, and hours 8-12, with named responsibilities, checkboxes, temperature and battery logs, and trigger points that override the timeline.
8. Run a One-Hour Drill and Rank the Three Gaps That Matter FirstA completed one-hour drill score sheet showing retrieval and setup times, missed steps, unsafe assumptions, unavailable equipment, and the three highest-priority gaps with an owner, due date, and professional-help flag.
