Power Out Tonight? The 12 Things My Lineman Husband Did First (In Order)

📋 FREE Fridge-Door Checklist (all 12 steps, big print, one page for your fridge): When the power goes out, the first thing you reach for shouldn't be a candle. My husband Walt spent 38 years putting the power back on for our electric co-op, and these are the 12 things he did the moment our lights went out, in the order he did them. In the 2021 Texas winter storm, 246 people died. Most died from the cold, and about 1 in 12 died from carbon monoxide: the heater, the grill, the car running in the garage. It's rarely the dark that gets you. It's what people do in the dark. In this video: Why you should call in an outage even if you think the neighbors already did The one lamp Walt always left switched on, and why How to "shrink the house" so one room stays warm for hours The real fridge and freezer numbers: 4 hours, 48 hours, 24 hours Why Walt filled the bathtub first, and what it's for The $0 trick that keeps pipes from bursting, and the red ribbon on our shutoff How to protect your phone battery and set up a check-in plan when you live alone The two generator rules Walt got angry about Number one: the promise Walt made me keep Everything here is cheap or free, and made for a real body: nothing heavy to lift, nothing that needs a young back, and nothing that burns indoors. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Texas storm: it's not the dark that gets you 1:01 Who I am, and who Walt was 2:19 #12 Check if it's just you, and call it in 3:37 #11 Switch things off, leave one lamp on 4:50 #10 Light on your body, not a candle 6:23 #9 Shrink the house to one warm room 8:29 #8 Keep the fridge and freezer shut 9:34 #7 Fill the tub and the jugs 11:04 #6 Drip the faucets and know your shutoff 11:51 #5 Warm your body, not the house 13:02 Your turn, and the Halloween blizzard of 1991 13:43 #4 Protect your phone and tell someone your plan 15:08 #3 Never the oven, never the grill 16:19 #2 The generator lives outside 17:50 #1 A battery CO alarm, and a plan to go 19:41 All 12, fast 20:40 The three things to remember 💬 Tell me in the comments: when you were a kid and the power went out, what did your folks do? I read them all. SOURCES (every number in this video) Texas Department of State Health Services, February 2021 Winter Storm-Related Deaths (final report) CDC: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Prevention, and Generator Safety FoodSafety.gov / USDA: Food Safety During a Power Outage American Red Cross: Power Outage Safety National Institute on Aging: Cold Weather Safety for Older Adults About this channel: June is a character. Her face and voice are made with AI, and our small team researches and writes every script from the public safety guidance listed above. This video is general safety information, not medical or professional advice. In an emergency, call 911. Stay warm, stay safe, and check on your neighbor