Blackout Plan for Apartments
Blackout advice is written for houses. Run the generator outside. Cook on the barbecue. Use the camp stove on the deck. Fill the bath before the water goes.
In an apartment, most of that is either impossible or dangerous, and the failure modes are different: water stops when the pump does, the lift strands people, the car is locked in a basement, and there is nowhere safe to put a combustion appliance.
The 10-minute version
- Fill containers immediately. Above roughly the third or fourth floor your water comes from an electric pump, and you may have only minutes of stored pressure.
- No combustion indoors or on a balcony. No generator, no barbecue, no camp stove, no patio heater. Carbon monoxide accumulates and balconies are enclosed enough to kill.
- Store everything inside the unit, upstairs. The lift will not work and the basement may be unreachable.
What fails, in order
Water, within minutes. Buildings above a few storeys pressurise water with a pump. No power, no pump. Once the header tank drains, taps go dry — which is why the first action is filling, not finding a torch.
Lifts, immediately. Which matters enormously if anyone in the household is elderly, disabled, pregnant, injured, or living on level fourteen. If someone is trapped in a lift, use the emergency phone or alarm and wait — do not try to force doors.
Basement carpark access. Roller doors and gates fail. Find the manual release now, and know whether you can physically operate it.
Intercom and building access. Fobs and keypads may fail. Know how you would get in and out, and whether there is a mechanical override.
Common area lighting. Stairwells go dark, and emergency lighting has a limited battery. A torch by the door is not optional in an apartment.
Ventilation. Bathroom and kitchen extraction stops, and in a smoke event the building’s air handling may be the thing you want off anyway.
The constrained kit
Everything must fit one cupboard and be liftable up stairs.
| Item | Why the apartment version differs |
|---|---|
| Water, 9 L per person | In small bottles. You may be carrying it up stairs |
| Headlamp per person, plus a battery lantern | Stairwells and corridors go dark |
| Battery radio | No substitute, and no aerial needed |
| Power bank, 10,000 mAh+ | No car to charge from if the basement is shut |
| Three days of no-cook food | Because you cannot safely cook. This is stricter than the house version |
| Esky and frozen bottles | Fridge management and medication cooling |
| First aid kit and a week of medication | Pharmacy access may be difficult |
| P2 masks | Smoke events, and stairwell dust |
| Cash | EFTPOS down across the whole area |
| Whistle | To signal from a stairwell or a lift |
Deliberately not on the list: any combustion appliance. There is no safe place for one.
Cooking and heating, honestly
You cannot cook with fire in an apartment. So plan not to cook.
- Three days of food that needs no heat: ring-pull tins, crackers, peanut butter, muesli bars, nuts, long-life milk, tinned fruit.
- A thermos of boiling water made before or early in an outage covers tea, instant coffee and instant oats for hours.
- A battery kettle is not a thing. Nor is a safe indoor stove. Accept cold food.
- Heating: layers, wool blankets, one closed room, everyone in it. Never an unflued gas heater in a sealed room.
- Cooling: this is the dangerous direction. See How to Survive a Heatwave — shade the glass early, wet skin, and if the unit will not come below about 30°C, leave for somewhere with power.
Strata, and what to ask
Ask the owners corporation or building manager, in writing, before you need to know:
- Does the building have a generator, and what does it run? Some run lifts, some run fire systems only, some have none.
- Is there emergency lighting in the stairwells, and when was it last tested?
- How is water supplied above the pressurised level, and what happens in an outage?
- What is the manual release procedure for the carpark and the front door?
- Is there an emergency plan, and where is it posted?
Getting these answers is free, takes one email, and it is the difference between a plan and a hope.
What actually goes wrong
Nobody fills containers, and the taps are dry in ten minutes.
A barbecue or camp stove gets used on the balcony, and carbon monoxide accumulates.
Water is stored in the basement storage cage, which is now unreachable.
Someone is trapped in the lift and nobody in the building knows the procedure.
The car cannot get out and nobody knows where the manual release is.
No torch by the front door, so the first move is fumbling in a dark corridor.
Medication in the fridge with no esky plan — see Keeping Medication Cold.
Nobody checks on the older resident on the top floor who cannot use the stairs.
Thresholds
| Situation | The rule |
|---|---|
| Power goes out | Fill every container immediately. Minutes, not hours |
| Combustion appliances | Never inside, never on a balcony. No exceptions |
| Storage | Inside the unit, upstairs. Never the basement cage |
| Lifts | Not used. If trapped, use the emergency phone and wait |
| Cooking | Assume none. Three days of no-cook food |
| Unit above ~30°C and not falling | Leave for somewhere with cooling |
| Neighbours with mobility limits | Check on them in person |
| Before any outage | Know the carpark manual release and the building’s emergency plan |
What it costs
| Tier | Spend | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Filling containers, knowing the manual releases, emailing strata the five questions, a torch by the door, checking on neighbours |
| Solid | ~$120–200 | 9 L water per person in small bottles, two headlamps, a battery lantern, a battery radio, a power bank, three days of no-cook food |
| Better | ~$300–600 | An esky with gel packs, a 20,000 mAh power bank, a thermos, a portable air purifier for smoke, extra medication |
| If power-dependent | $600–2,000 | A battery power station. In an apartment this is the only safe option, because a generator is not usable at all |
The drill: the twenty-minute apartment check
- Five minutes. Turn on a tap and time how long water lasts after you imagine the pump stopping — then ask the building manager what level the pump serves.
- Five minutes. Find the carpark manual release and the front door override. Physically try them if permitted.
- Five minutes. Walk the fire stairs from your floor to the ground, in daylight, so your feet know the route.
- Three minutes. Put a torch by the front door and one by the bed.
- Two minutes. Email strata the five questions above.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my apartment lose water in a blackout?
Because water above roughly the third or fourth floor is pumped, and the pump stops with the power. Once the header tank drains, taps run dry — often within minutes, which is why filling containers is the first action.
Can I use a camp stove or barbecue on my balcony in a blackout?
No. Balconies are enclosed enough for carbon monoxide to accumulate, and it has no smell or warning. Plan on three days of food that needs no cooking instead.
What if someone is trapped in the lift?
Use the lift’s emergency phone or alarm and wait. Do not attempt to force the doors or climb out — people are injured doing that, and lift rescue is a routine call for emergency services.
Where should I store emergency supplies in a unit?
Inside the unit, and upstairs if you are in a multi-level apartment. Not in a basement storage cage, which becomes unreachable when the lift and lighting fail.
Can I use a generator?
Realistically no — there is nowhere to site one safely. A battery power station is the apartment equivalent: silent, no exhaust, safe indoors, and the right answer if anyone depends on a powered medical device.
What should I ask the building manager?
Whether the building has a generator and what it runs, how water is supplied in an outage, the manual release procedure for the carpark and front door, when stairwell emergency lighting was last tested, and where the building emergency plan is posted.