AntesSecção 02
Lanterna LED de mesa
Why: ilumina uma divisão inteira sem o risco de incêndio das velas. Junta uma frontal para cada pessoa.
Essential guide · Base level · 9 min
Essential guideBase level · open to all9 min read
Long blackout: light, food and safety without electricity
What we learned from the 28 April 2025 blackout: how to prepare your home, keep food safe, avoid carbon monoxide and cope with more than a day without power.
Reviewed 1 Oct 2026
12·GA blackout-ready home
In 30 seconds
The essentials, in four points.
Radio
battery-powered, or the one in your car. When the internet and mobile network fail, it is how official information reaches you.
4 h
is how long meat, fish, eggs and leftovers stay safe in a closed fridge. A full, closed freezer: 48 h.
10 min
A small generator in an enclosed space gives off enough carbon monoxide to kill in 10 to 15 minutes. Outdoors only.
0 candles
left unattended. Use battery torches: the safest emergency light there is.
01Why prepare
28 April 2025: twelve hours without power across the country.
At 11:33 on 28 April 2025, the Iberian Peninsula's power system collapsed. In mainland Portugal, the grid operator REN only managed to restore the whole transmission network at around 23:20, restarting the system from the Castelo de Bode and Tapada do Outeiro power stations. During the afternoon the country found out how much it relies on electricity: traffic lights out, trains and the metro stopped, card payments and fuel pumps down, blocks of flats without water on the upper floors, people stuck in lifts, and mobile networks increasingly unstable as masts ran out of battery.
Twelve hours is short compared with storm-caused blackouts, which in rural areas can last days. The good news: preparing a home for a blackout is cheap and quick.
At home
No light, fridge, electric hob, internet or heating. What matters is safe light, information, food that won't spoil and water.
In a tall building
Lifts stopped and, often, no water on the upper floors: the booster pumps need electricity.
Away from home
Transport stopped, traffic lights out, cash machines and cards not working. Getting home can take hours.
02Before: prepare your home
Light, information, power, food. In that order.
1
One torch per person and spare batteries, kept where you can find them in the dark. A head torch leaves your hands free.
2
A battery or wind-up radio. Check today that it works and that you know how to tune to a news station. The car radio works too.
3
Charged power banks and a car charger. Recharge them every three months.
4
Some cash in notes and coins. Without power, card terminals and cash machines stop working.
5
Water and food for 3 days that need no fridge and little cooking. See the Water guide for quantities.
6
A camping stove to heat food — used outdoors or by a wide-open window, never to heat the house.
7
Keep the car tank above half and know how to open the garage door and building entrance by hand.
03When the power goes
Inform. Protect. Save.
In the first minutes you don't know whether it's your street or the whole country. Look out of the window: if the neighbours and the street lights are also out, the problem isn't your fuse box.
Step 1
Inform
Turn on the radio. Follow official instructions only. Text rather than call, and call 112 only for emergencies: the mobile network gets fragile.
Step 2
Protect
Unplug sensitive devices — computer, TV — to protect them when the power comes back. Leave one light switched on so you know when it returns.
Step 3
Save
Fridge and freezer shut. Phone on battery saver, brightness down. Torches only when needed.
How long food lasts without power
| Where | Door kept shut | After that |
|---|---|---|
| Fridge | up to 4 h | Throw out meat, fish, eggs, dairy and leftovers |
| Full freezer | up to 48 h | If ice crystals remain, it can be refrozen |
| Half-full freezer | up to 24 h | If ice crystals remain, it can be refrozen |
CDC figures. Portugal's health authority (DGS) accepts that a closed fridge may keep food safe for up to 12 hours; if in doubt, follow the more cautious figure.
1
Does the food smell, look or feel odd?
Yes
Throw it outWithout tasting it. A small amount is enough to make you ill.
No
2
Have meat, fish, eggs, dairy or leftovers been in the fridge without power for more than 4 hours?
Yes
Throw it outEven if it looks fine. Whole fruit and vegetables last longer.
No
3
Does frozen food still have ice crystals?
Yes
Refreeze itIt can be frozen again. Quality may suffer, but it is safe.
No
Eat it soon, cook it wellWhat you saved should be eaten first and cooked at high temperatures.
04What kills in a blackout
Not the dark. Fire and carbon monoxide.
In a blackout, serious accidents almost never come from the lack of light: they come from improvised ways of replacing it. Carbon monoxide has no smell or colour, and it puts you to sleep before it kills.
1
Generators and fuel engines outdoors only, at least 6 metres from doors, windows and vents. Never inside the house, basement or garage — not even with the door open.
2
No barbecues, braziers or charcoal stoves indoors, and never the gas oven or hob to heat the house. All of them give off carbon monoxide.
3
A carbon monoxide detector battery-powered, near the bedrooms, is essential if you use a generator or fuel-burning heating.
4
Candles only when watched, on a stable base, away from curtains and out of reach of children and pets. Better still: torches.
5
Don't run the car in a garage to charge your phone. If you do it, do it with the car outside.
6
Traffic lights out: apply the general priority rules — in Portugal, give way to traffic from the right unless signs say otherwise — and slow right down.
7
Stuck in a lift? Stay calm, press the alarm button and call 112. Don't try to climb out through the roof or force the doors.
05If it lasts more than a day
Routine, water, hygiene — and the neighbours.
After the first 24 hours the challenge changes: it is no longer the surprise but the routine. The families who get through long blackouts well are the ones who organise early.
Food
In order
First the fridge, then the freezer, the cupboard last. Cook what spoils fastest.
Water
Count every litre
4 L per person per day. Keep drinking water for drinking and cooking; bath water is for flushing.
Hygiene
Clean hands
Wash your hands before eating and after the toilet — soap and water, or alcohol gel. It's what prevents diarrhoea.
Routine
Give the day a rhythm
Fixed times to eat, listen to the radio and sleep. Jobs for everyone, children included. Games and books for the evenings.
Neighbours
Knock on doors
Older people and those living alone or bedridden may have no light, water or information. A visit can save a life.
06Six costly mistakes
Blackout myths — and what to do instead.
Myth
“With the garage door open, the generator can stay inside.”
It can't. Carbon monoxide still builds up. Generators outdoors only, 6 m from doors and windows.
Myth
“The gas oven will heat the house in an emergency.”
It isn't made for that and fills the house with carbon monoxide. Wrap up and gather the family in one room.
Myth
“If it smells fine, it's fine to eat.”
Dangerous bacteria don't change the smell or taste. Follow the times in the table and never taste to check.
Myth
“My phone will always work.”
Mobile masts run on batteries that run out. In long blackouts the network fails. Have a radio.
Myth
“Candles are the natural emergency light.”
They are a common cause of fires during blackouts. Use torches; candles only when watched.
Myth
“When the power's back, switch everything on at once.”
Reconnect appliances gradually, starting with the fridge, so you don't overload the circuit.
07Recommended equipment
Light, information and power for three days.
A blackout kit fits in a box and costs less than a meal out: torches, batteries, a radio and a power bank. If you use fuel-burning heating or a generator, add a carbon monoxide detector — it isn't optional.
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InformarPasso 1
Rádio a pilhas e manivela
Why: a forma mais segura de receber informação quando a internet e a rede móvel caem.
PouparPasso 3
Bateria externa 20 000 mAh
Why: chega para carregar um telemóvel várias vezes. Recarrega-a de três em três meses.
AntesSecção 02
Pilhas alcalinas AA e AAA
Why: para as lanternas e o rádio. Confirma os tamanhos que usas e verifica a validade.
SegurançaSecção 04
Detetor de monóxido de carbono
Why: indispensável se usares um gerador, uma salamandra ou qualquer aquecimento a combustão.
Quick card
Print it. Keep it with the torches.
Keep this sheet in the drawer with the torches and batteries — that's where you'll go in the first minute of a blackout.
Blackout · K72 sheet
1Turn on the radio. Text rather than call.
2Fridge and freezer shut.
3Fridge without power over 4 h: meat, fish and leftovers go.
4Generator outdoors only, 6 m from doors and windows.
5No barbecues or gas oven for heating.
6Torches, not candles. Check on older neighbours.
12·G · k72plus.comEMERGENCY: 112
- ERSE — Investigation into the Iberian blackout of 28 April 2025 (in Portuguese) — time of the blackout and grid restoration at 23:20
- ENTSO-E — Grid Incident in Spain and Portugal on 28 April 2025: Factual Report (October 2025)
- CDC — What to do to protect yourself during a power outage — fridge 4 h, freezer 48/24 h, generators 6 m (20 ft), candles, medicines
- DGS — Storms: essential care and safe behaviour (2026, in Portuguese) — fridge up to 12 h; a generator can kill in 10–15 min
- ERSE — Quality of Service Regulation: customers with special needs (in Portuguese) — 36 hours' notice of planned outages
- European Commission — Preparedness Union Strategy (2025) — 72-hour self-sufficiency recommendation
Reviewed 1 Oct 2026 · Next review: Mar 2027 · Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
This guide does not replace instructions from the authorities. If you suspect carbon monoxide poisoning, or in any emergency, call 112.
