When the power dies in the dead of winter, the silence feels brutal. The warmth drains from the walls, and every draft suddenly feels like a threat. In those first few minutes, one decision can mean the difference between a cold inconvenience and real danger. Most people get it wrong. They wander, they panic, they le

The moment the heat cuts out, your job is to stop treating your whole house like a home and start treating one room like a lifeboat. Close doors, seal gaps with towels or clothes, and turn a single space into your warm zone. Heavy curtains, blankets over windows, and blocked drafts slow the invisible escape of warmth that happens far faster than most people realize.

Then protect the most important heat source you have: your own body. Pile on thin layers, cover your head, hands, and feet, and share body heat under blankets or sleeping bags. At night, build a cocoon with insulation beneath and above you, and rest upstairs if you can. Use only safe, approved heat sources and avoid desperate shortcuts with ovens or open flames. Stay calm, eat, sip something warm, keep moving gently, and keep checking on each other. Survival in a powerless winter isn’t luck; it’s deliberate, steady choices.