The Storm-Season Checklist: Charge This, Print That, Know This
Last verified: August 2026
Storm season here means outages. A little preparation turns a scary night into a manageable one. Here's a simple checklist you can print and run through before the weather turns.
Getting Ready Before the Storm
The best time to prepare for an outage is a calm afternoon, not the moment the lights flicker. This checklist breaks readiness into three simple jobs: charge your batteries, print the information you'll need when screens are dark, and know the few things that make an outage go smoothly.
None of it is expensive or complicated. Most of it takes an hour and only has to be refreshed each season. For anyone relying on a medical device or living alone, it's especially worth doing.
Print this page and keep it with your outage kit. When a storm is in the forecast, run down the list.
When to skip the DIY and just call: You want a kit put together and everything tested · Someone in the home has medical or mobility needs · You want it all set up once so you're ready every storm season.
Common Questions
1 What should I charge before a storm?
- Your power station or battery backup — to full.
- All power banks, phones, tablets, and laptops.
- Any medical wearable, watch, or hearing-aid batteries.
- The car (a full tank doubles as a phone charger and a warm place).
2 What should I print or write down?
- Your power company's outage-report number and account number.
- Family and neighbor phone numbers (don't rely only on your phone's contacts).
- A list of medications, doctors, and pharmacies.
- Simple steps to start your backup power, so anyone in the house can do it in the dark.
3 What should I have on hand?
- Flashlights and headlamps with fresh batteries (safer than candles).
- A battery or hand-crank NOAA weather radio.
- Bottled water and easy food that needs no cooking.
- A cooler and a few ice packs for the fridge/medications, and a manual can opener.
4 What should I know ahead of time?
- Which outlets in your home are on the backup, and what your power station can and can't run.
- How to safely start a generator outdoors (never indoors or in a garage — carbon monoxide kills).
- How to open a garage door manually and unlock doors without power.
- Where the water shutoff is, in case of freezing pipes during a winter outage.
5 What about food and the fridge?
- Keep the fridge and freezer doors closed — a full freezer holds cold for a day or more.
- A power station can run the fridge in short cycles to extend that.
- When in doubt about food safety after a long outage, throw it out.
- Move critical medications to a cooler with ice packs if the fridge warms up.
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