Power outage | Monitoring

What to monitor during a power outage

During a power outage, the best information often comes from several layers: weather alerts, local emergency messages, utility updates, neighborhood reports, and radio traffic. The goal is to stay informed without draining every battery in the house.

Monitor these sources in order

Use a battery-saving listening schedule

Constant monitoring drains batteries and attention. Pick a rhythm that fits the situation, then shorten it if conditions become dangerous.

• Every 15 minutes: during active severe weather, evacuation warnings, or a fast-changing local emergency.
• Every 30 minutes: during an uncertain outage when weather or restoration conditions are still developing.
• Every 60 minutes: during a stable, extended outage with no immediate threat.

Between checks, lower phone brightness, close unused apps, turn off unneeded radios, and keep one device designated for official alerts. A written charging priority helps prevent every battery from being used at once.

If your household does not already have a dedicated receiver, use the emergency weather radio guide to compare always-on home alert radios with portable crank models.

Small Monitoring Kit

The monitoring kit should be separate from the big go-kit. Keep it where the household can find it quickly, with the information sources written down before the outage starts.

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• NOAA weather alert radio for home warnings without relying on a phone screen.
• USB-C battery bank for phones, lights, and rechargeable receivers.
• Weatherproof notebook for outage logs, utility updates, check-in times, and radio notes.

LeeCARES Wilderness Protocol for Lee County operators

Lee County ARES uses an enhanced version of the Wilderness Protocol as a local coordination plan when normal communications or repeaters fail. The national protocol centers on scheduled listening periods so stations have a better chance of hearing one another without leaving every radio on continuously.

According to the Lee County ARES Wilderness Protocol 2025 edition, local licensed amateur radio operators should use these voice monitoring windows:

The protocol also lists 3.953 MHz and 7.253 MHz LSB for HF voice. National Wilderness Protocol practice calls for monitoring for at least five minutes beginning at 7:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 7:00 PM. If contact is established on a calling frequency, move to another agreed frequency when practical so the calling channel remains available.

For priority traffic, the local document describes LiTZ: transmitting the DTMF zero tone for about ten seconds before the call to alert stations that priority traffic follows. Always listen first, identify with your call sign, keep the message concise, and call at any time when an actual emergency cannot wait for a scheduled window.

LeeCARES Winlink fallbacks

• Primary RMS: KD5BJ-10 on 145.610 MHz using VARA FM Wide.
• Secondary RMS: WB5YYQ-10 on 144.950 MHz using VARA FM.
• Peer-to-peer fallback: KD5BJ on 145.610 MHz using VARA FM P2P, coordinated with other operators when possible.
• HF fallback: select an available VARA HF RMS station based on current propagation and updated Winlink Express channel listings.

Keep a simple outage log

A notebook reduces repeated checking and helps the household work from the same information. Use one line for each meaningful update:

Separate verified information from rumor

Outages create incomplete and conflicting reports. Give the most weight to official alerts, the National Weather Service, your utility, and an organized net control station. Treat scanner traffic, social posts, and neighborhood messages as unconfirmed until another reliable source supports them.

When passing information by radio, say where it came from and when you heard it. "The utility map showed this at 7:20 PM" is more useful than "someone said power will be back soon."

Know when to transmit

You can listen to NOAA Weather Radio and many local radio services without transmitting. Transmit only on services and frequencies you are authorized to use, except where federal rules provide a genuine emergency exception involving immediate safety of life or property. Do not use an outage as a reason to test unfamiliar channels.

Licensed amateur operators should have local repeaters programmed before the outage and a simplex backup plan. Families using GMRS or FRS should agree on channels and check-in times in advance.

When information becomes action

• Move to shelter when an official warning or observed condition calls for it.
• Conserve refrigerator and freezer temperature by keeping doors closed.
• Move charging to a vehicle or backup source according to your written power plan.
• Contact emergency services for immediate threats rather than relying on informal radio traffic.
• Use your family communication plan if household members are separated.