Outage prep for a New York City apartment

Set these up this week (all free)

1. 1Sign up for Notify NYC. It's the City's official emergency alert program, covering utility outages and other emergencies. Sign up for Notify NYC.
2. 2Save 311 in your phone and on paper. Call 311 or use 311 online to report lost water service, low water pressure, or a water main break, and to find open cooling centers during a heat emergency.
3. 3Save your utility's outage line. Con Edison's 24-hour line is 1-800-75-CONED (1-800-752-6633). If another company serves your address, save its number instead.
4. 4Fill out the city's Emergency Reference Card. It's part of the free Ready New York pocket guide (PDF). Each person in your home should carry one with meeting places and key phone numbers written in.
5. 5If anyone uses powered medical equipment, register it with your utility and make a backup power plan. See the medical section below.

Elevators and stairs

• Elevators stop when the power goes out. If you live on a high floor, every trip out means climbing back up with whatever you're carrying.
• Walk your stairwell once, in the dark, with a flashlight, so you know the route and where the doors lead.
• Keep a headlamp, your shoes, and your keys by the door.
• Plan fewer, lighter trips. That's another reason to keep water and food at home before an outage, not to buy it during one.
• If someone in your home can't manage stairs, plan now with your building staff and neighbors for how they'd get help. Don't wait for an outage to work that out.

Water on upper floors

In NYC buildings with more than six floors, pumps push water up to rooftop tanks, and it flows down from there. When the power is out, those pumps may stop unless the building has backup power. You may have water for a while from what's already in the tank, then lose it on upper floors until power returns.

• Store water before you need it. Federal guidance is at least one gallon per person per day, for several days. The higher you live, the more this matters.
• Keep extra water for flushing toilets. A bucket of stored water poured into the bowl will flush it.
• If a long outage is forecast and your water is still running, fill containers and your bathtub.
• Ask your super now whether your building's water pumps have backup power. It's a one-minute question that changes your plan.

Buzzers, locks, and building systems

• Intercoms, electronic buzzers, and smart locks can fail without power or internet. Know how to get in with a physical key.
• Laundry cards, package lockers, and rent portals may stop working. Find out what your building does when they're down.
• The lobby and bulletin boards often become the building's news source during an outage. Check them.

Heat and cold

• In a summer outage, apartments heat up fast. During heat emergencies, the City opens cooling centers across the five boroughs. Call 311 or use the city's Cooling Center Finder to see what's open near you.
• Never heat your apartment with a gas oven or stove, and never bring a grill, camp stove, or generator inside or onto a balcony. They give off carbon monoxide.
• Put a battery or battery-backup CO alarm near every sleeping area.

Powered medical equipment

If anyone in your home relies on electric medical equipment, register with your utility so it knows to contact you in an emergency. Con Edison customers can call 1-800-752-6633 (TTY 1-800-642-2308). Registering doesn't replace a plan. Keep a battery backup, charge everything before a forecast outage, and if you use oxygen, ask your supplier about emergency replacements. NYC Emergency Management's utility disruptions page lists the numbers for each utility.

Check on your neighbors

Knock on doors, especially for older neighbors and anyone living alone. Offer to carry water up or pick up supplies. In a multi-day outage, the people on your floor are your fastest help.

Buy, Borrow, or Skip

• Buy: water containers, a headlamp for each adult, a power bank, a battery radio, a battery CO alarm, and no-cook food.
• Borrow: a neighbor's cooler, and help carrying water upstairs.
• Skip: fuel generators, which are unsafe indoors and often banned by leases, and indoor "emergency heaters" made for outdoor use.