Outages and Storms
Flood Insurance Takes 30 Days to Start
Homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, and a federal flood policy generally waits 30 days before it pays. Which is why you buy it out of season.
Section · 24 guides
Outages and Storms
Power outages, storms and floods: what to do first and what being ready costs.
An outage or storm plan should fit the household, essential equipment and the hazards that can prevent safe access. These guides compare backup power, supplies, repair and debris services using the completed scope. Emergency warnings and directions from local officials come before protecting property or documenting damage.
Include safe installation, operating requirements, continuing care and the limits of any backup equipment. Use approved safe food and water guidance. Never bring a generator indoors or improvise an electrical connection; carbon monoxide, flooding and damaged services need immediate appropriate assistance.
Budget and decision guides
Power Outages
Generators, batteries, food safety and what a long outage actually costs.
Outages and Storms
Standby Generator Maintenance Cost: Visit or Plan?
Compare published annual generator service prices, calculate when callout waivers earn a higher fee, and separate maintenance from repair coverage.
Outages and Storms
What a Long Power Outage Actually Costs
The average American lost 11 hours of power in 2024, and almost all of it came from a handful of storms. What those hours cost, and what is worth buying first.
Outages and Storms
Is a UPS for Your Router Worth It? Cost and Runtime
See a published router UPS price and load ratings, count modem and fiber equipment, and evaluate runtime without confusing VA with battery capacity.
Outages and Storms
Generators: 20 Feet Away, Every Time
Carbon monoxide from portable generators kills people, and opening a window does not help. The distance rule, shut-off feature and alarms.
Outages and Storms
Generator, Battery Station, or Neither
Three ways to keep the lights on, and the question that decides between them is not price. How long outages last and whether you can run fuel outside.
Outages and Storms
Four Hours, 48 Hours, and the 40 Degree Rule
The FDA's food safety rules for a power cut are short and specific. Knowing them decides whether you throw away a freezer or keep it.
Outages and Storms
Keeping Warm Without Power, Without a Fire
Heating equipment causes about 37,000 home fires a year, and space heaters do most of the killing. How to hold one warm room safely when the heat goes off.
Outages and Storms
When the Power Goes and a Device Keeps You Alive
Refrigerated medicines, oxygen, CPAP machines and pumps all assume electricity. What the FDA says about medicines that got warm, and the calls to make first.
Outages and Storms
How Long Can a Portable Power Station Run a Fridge?
Estimate refrigerator backup hours from watt-hours and measured demand, compare a published battery price, and keep runtime separate from food safety.
Outages and Storms
Generator Transfer Switch Installation Cost Examples
See published installed GenerLink prices and manual-switch hardware costs, then compare cords, circuit limits, utility approval and electrical work.
Outages and Storms
What to Unplug, and How to Turn Everything Back On
The surge that damages electronics usually arrives when the power returns, not when it leaves. A short list for before, during and after.
Storms and Floods
Hurricanes, flooding, winter storms and the insurance rules that catch people out.
Outages and Storms
Flood Insurance Takes 30 Days to Start
Homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, and a federal flood policy generally waits 30 days before it pays. Which is why you buy it out of season.
Outages and Storms
Flood Cleanup Cost: Drying Equipment and Service Fees
See published drying and assessment fees, calculate equipment-days, and separate flood cleanup, demolition, moisture checks and rebuilding costs.
Outages and Storms
Six Inches of Water Is Enough to Take You Down
Twelve inches floats most cars and two feet moves an SUV. More than half of flood drownings happen in vehicles, and all of them were avoidable.
Outages and Storms
The Week Before a Hurricane, in Order
Everything useful happens before the shops empty. A timeline from the forecast cone to landfall, and the jobs that only work if you do them early.
Outages and Storms
Storm Debris Removal Cost: Hauling and Disposal Fees
See published yard-waste and garbage disposal rates, calculate load charges, and compare storm cleanup quotes for labor, equipment and haul-away.
Outages and Storms
Winter Storms Are a Heating Problem, Not a Snow Problem
The danger in a winter storm is losing heat for days, with pipes, carbon monoxide and fire all arriving together. What to do before the forecast turns.
Outages and Storms
What to Take When You Have Ten Minutes
Evacuations are decided by other people and announced with little warning. Packing the bag on a quiet afternoon is the entire skill.
Outages and Storms
The Dangerous Part Starts After the Storm
Carbon monoxide, live wires, contaminated water and chainsaws. The days after a storm bring hazards beyond the weather; learn what to avoid.
Home Readiness
Water, supplies, documents and alerts, sized to how long help realistically takes.
Outages and Storms
A Gallon Per Person Per Day, and How to Store It
The number is easy. The parts people get wrong are how much to keep, what to keep it in, and how to make questionable water safe to drink.
Outages and Storms
An Emergency Kit You Will Actually Have
Most kits fail for boring reasons: the batteries died, the food expired, or it was in the loft. Build one around where it lives and how it is checked.
Outages and Storms
Make Sure a Warning Can Actually Reach You
Wireless emergency alerts are free and need no sign-up, but they are not the whole system. Three layers, and why one of them needs batteries.
Outages and Storms
The Paperwork That Decides How Fast You Recover
Insurance claims, aid applications and replacing what burned all need documents. FEMA publishes a checklist for exactly this, and it takes an afternoon.
Outages and Storms
The Plan Is Four Answers, Not a Binder
Where do we meet, who do we call, how do we get out, and what do the children do. Everything else in a family emergency plan is detail.
Elsewhere on Home & Porch
The other sections, most recent first.