A windstorm outage can last an evening or most of a week. Washington EMD asks households to be 2 Weeks Ready. For communications, that means keeping a phone, a weather radio and maybe a pair of handheld radios running for days without the grid. This guide starts with habits, because saving power beats storing it. Then it covers the gear.
If you only have a few minutes, read your first 30 minutes after the power goes out first.
Start by using less
Your phone’s battery is your most important supply. Stretch it from the first hour.
- Turn on low-power mode (iPhone) or Battery Saver (Android) as soon as the power goes out, not at 20%. Apple says Low Power Mode cuts background activity, dims the screen and turns off email fetch and automatic downloads (Apple). Google says Battery Saver limits or turns off background activity (Android Help).
- Text, don’t call. FEMA’s family plan sheet says “a text message may get through when a phone call will not,” and a text uses far less network capacity (FEMA P-1094).
- Cut screen time. Google lists video, navigation, games, hotspot use and long GPS sessions as big drains (Android Help).
- Turn off what you don’t need. Wi-Fi when your router is dark, Bluetooth, and location.
- Agree on check-in times so phones and radios only need to be on when someone is listening. Put them in your family comms plan.
Battery banks: read Wh, not mAh
Battery banks are labeled in mAh, but mAh alone doesn’t tell you how much energy is inside. Watt-hours (Wh) do. The FAA’s formula is simple: multiply the battery’s voltage by its amp-hours (FAA). Newer lithium-ion batteries often print the Wh on the label.
Why you get less than the label. The cells inside most banks run at about 3.7 V, but USB charges at 5 V or more. The conversion loses energy. One maker’s own worked example (manufacturer support article):
- 20,000 mAh at 3.7 V is 74 Wh.
- At 82% conversion efficiency, that leaves about 61 Wh.
- At 5 V, that is about 12,140 mAh of “rated capacity.”
- Your phone then loses a little more while charging. The same article calls a loss of about 15% normal.
What to do with that:
- Compare banks by Wh, or by the “rated capacity” at 5 V if the label shows it.
- Test yours before you need it. Charge your phone from the full bank and count the charges. Write the number on the bank.
- Top banks up monthly and after every use. A bank that sat for a year may not be full.
- Charge banks indoors at room temperature, and follow the charging temperature range in the manual.
- Keep them safe. The FAA says battery terminals must be protected from short circuits. Don’t use a bank that is swollen, hot or damaged (FAA).
Charging from a car, safely
A car is a big battery with a charger attached. Use it carefully.
- Never run a car or truck inside a garage attached to a house, even with the garage door open (CDC). Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell.
- Charge outdoors in open air. Don’t sit in a running car with only the tailgate open. The CDC says exhaust is pulled into the car that way.
- If you are stranded in snow, the National Weather Service says to run the engine about 10 minutes each hour, open a window a little, and clear snow from the exhaust pipe (NWS). Ready.gov says you can use those 10 minutes to charge your phone, and suggests keeping a power bank in the car (Ready.gov).
- With the engine off, charging draws on the car’s own battery. Don’t run it down so far that the car won’t start.
- Charge a battery bank, not just your phone. You can carry the bank back inside.
- Have working CO detectors at home. The CDC says to put battery-operated or battery-backup detectors near every sleeping area.
Small solar panels: know the Washington winter
Solar can top up a bank on a long outage, but Washington’s winter sun is weak. NREL’s long-term averages (1961 to 1990) for a fixed panel facing south and tilted at the latitude angle (NREL):
| Place | December | July |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | 1.4 kWh/m² per day | 5.7 kWh/m² per day |
| Spokane | 1.9 kWh/m² per day | 6.5 kWh/m² per day |
So a Seattle panel collects about a quarter of its July energy in December. Laid flat, it does worse: 0.8 against 6.1. Single gray days can be far below these averages.
- A panel’s watt rating is for strong, direct sun. Expect much less in a typical Washington winter.
- Point it south and tilt it up, in full sun, away from trees and roof shade.
- Charge a battery bank from the panel, then charge the phone from the bank, so you can charge indoors at night.
- Don’t buy solar as your only plan. In winter, a charged battery bank and a car are more reliable.
Hand-crank radios and spare batteries
Ready.gov’s basic kit lists a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert, extra batteries, and a phone with chargers and a backup battery (Ready.gov). The Washington Department of Health also lists a battery-powered radio with extra batteries.
- A crank radio doesn’t depend on stored power. That makes it a good last backup for news and alerts.
- Don’t count on the crank to charge a phone. Read the manual to see how long a minute of cranking runs the radio.
- Keep spare AA and AAA cells in the sizes your radios, flashlights and weather radio use. Check every device and write the sizes down.
- Store spares in their packaging so the terminals can’t touch, and check the dates on the packs once a year.
- Check what your handheld radios take. If they can run on AA cells, one kind of spare covers everything.
For setting up a weather radio, see NOAA Weather Radio and emergency alerts in Washington.
Keeping the home internet up
A small battery backup (UPS) can keep a modem and router running through a short outage. Wi-Fi calling and messaging then keep working, if your provider’s network is still up.
- Ask your provider first. Since 2019, FCC rules have required providers of home phone service that isn’t powered over the phone line to offer customers backup power options of at least 8 hours and 24 hours for the equipment in the home. Providers must also tell you how long the backup lasts and how to test it (FCC DA 18-1205).
- Size a UPS by watts and Wh. Read the watt rating on the modem’s and router’s power adapters. The label shows the most each can draw, so it’s a safe upper estimate. Then check the UPS maker’s runtime chart for that load.
- Plug in only the modem and router. Leave computers and TVs off the backup.
- Test it once a year by unplugging the UPS from the wall and timing it.
- Keep a corded phone if you have a landline. The Department of Health notes that cordless phones won’t work when the power is out.
A comms power kit
Pack this in one bag or bin, and keep it where you can find it in the dark.
- Battery banks, charged, with their Wh or tested charge count written on them.
- Charging cables for every phone and radio in the house, plus a spare.
- A car charger with USB ports, kept in the kit or the car.
- A NOAA Weather Radio that runs on batteries or a crank.
- Spare AA and AAA cells in the sizes your devices use.
- Handheld radios, if your household uses them. See FRS vs GMRS and join your local mesh before you buy.
- A small solar panel, optional, with a bank to charge.
- A headlamp or flashlight for each person.
- A printed copy of your family comms plan, with check-in times and your out-of-area contact.
- A note card listing what to charge first, which bank charges what, and when you last topped everything up.
What this kit does not do
- Power keeps your phone on, not the network. If nearby cell sites or your provider’s equipment lose power, a full battery can’t make a call go through.
- It doesn’t make texting certain. Texts are more likely to get through than calls, not guaranteed to.
- It doesn’t replace generator safety rules. If you use a generator, follow Ready.gov’s power outage guidance: outdoors only, at least 20 feet from windows, doors and attached garages.
- It won’t run powered medical equipment for long. Plan that with your care provider and utility, as Ready.gov advises.
When phones stop working entirely, satellite texting on your phone may still reach one contact from outdoors. It drains the battery too, so keep a bank with it.
Call 911 if you can. Mesh and radio are best-effort backups.