The useful answer to power outage what to do first is a short check, not a repair. Look at one other room, then the street. If neighbors are dark too, report it to the utility and wait. If only your home is dark, or you see sparks, water, heat, or a burning smell, stop and get help. This guide covers those first minutes on the Treasure Coast. It stops before the long restart that begins after the lights come back.
Schedule emergency electrical service if the outage is only in your home or something looks unsafe.
Power Outage What to Do First at Home
Start with people, then the scope of the outage. Ask who is home. Note anyone who uses a powered medical device, a stair lift, or refrigerated medicine. Turn on a flashlight before you walk through the house. Ready.gov power-outage guidance recommends flashlights instead of candles, because an open flame adds a fire risk while you are moving in the dark.
Next, test whether the problem is one circuit or the whole building. Flip a light in another room. Look at a clock, the microwave, or the stove display. A blank display in every room means the outage is wider than one breaker. A clock that still shows the time, with one room dark, means you are dealing with a single circuit.
Then step outside, if it is safe to do so, and look down the street. Dark neighbors and dark streetlights usually mean a utility outage. Power in the next house, with your house dark, points to your panel, your meter, or a damaged part of your service. That single look decides the phone call you make next.
Use this order while you are still in the first few minutes:
- Account for people and pets, and switch on a flashlight.
- Check a second room, then look outside at neighbors and streetlights.
- Unplug computers, televisions, and other sensitive electronics.
- Leave the refrigerator and freezer closed.
- Call 911 for fire, sparks, a downed line, or a medical emergency.
- Report a wider outage to the utility, or call an electrician for a home-only outage.
Do not open the electrical panel in the dark, in standing water, or when you smell burning. Looking at the panel door from a dry floor is enough for this first pass. You are only checking whether the door is hot, wet, or smelling of smoke. You are not diagnosing the breakers yet.
Resetting breakers over and over can hide a real fault. If one breaker is already in the middle position, leave it until you know the area is dry and there is no burning smell. A breaker that trips again after one careful reset should stay off. That second trip is the signal to stop.
Keep a phone flashlight as a backup, not as your only light. A battery lantern on the counter lets you see the room while your phone stays free for the utility call. If the garage door is down, use the manual release only if you already know where the cord is and the door is not blocked.
Is the Outage Your Utility or Your Home?
The split matters because the next call is different. A street-wide outage is a utility job. A single dark house can be a loose connection, a failed main breaker, or storm damage on your side of the meter. Those are electrician jobs, and another outage report will not fix them.
| What you see | Likely source | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Your home and the street are dark. | Utility outage. | Report it, unplug sensitive devices, and wait. |
| Neighbors have power and you do not. | Your service or panel. | Stop resets and call a licensed electrician. |
| One room or one outlet is dead. | A branch circuit or GFCI. | Note the room and avoid repeated resets. |
| Sparks, buzzing, heat, or a burning smell. | Damaged equipment. | Leave the area and call for emergency help. |
| Water in or near the panel. | Unsafe to touch. | Do not open it. Call an electrician. |
| Half the house works, half does not. | Loose service or panel fault. | Keep loads light and get same-day help. |
Florida Power & Light asks customers to report downed lines and damaged poles, wires. Or transformers by calling 1-800-468-8243, and to stay far away from anything touching a line. You can also check status at FPL.com/storm. If you are not an FPL customer, use the outage number printed on your bill. A line on the ground, in a tree, or across a car is a 911 call as well as a utility call.
Partial power is its own clue. Lights in one half of the house, with the other half dead, can mean a loose utility connection or a failing main. Do not treat that as a normal neighborhood outage. Large motors, such as the air conditioner, can make the problem worse if they keep trying to start. Turn those controls off and get the service checked the same day.
A single dead bathroom, kitchen, or outdoor outlet is usually smaller still. Many of those receptacles are fed through a GFCI that may have opened. Finding that device can wait until you have light and a dry floor. Write down which room failed. That note is more useful than flipping every breaker in the panel while you are still guessing.
Weather changes the read. After lightning, a dark house with power next door can be a damaged meter socket or a burned breaker. After wind and rain, look from a distance for a leaning mast, a pulled weatherhead, or a line resting on the roof. Do not climb, and do not pull on a cable. Photograph it from the ground if you can do that safely, then call.
What Should You Turn Off While You Wait?
Unplug, rather than hoping the breaker catches a surge. Ready.gov warns that power can return with a short spike that damages electronics. Pull the plugs on computers, televisions, game consoles, and phone chargers. Leave one lamp switched on in a front room so you can see, from outside or from the hall, when utility power returns.
Turn off large 240-volt appliances at their own controls. That includes the air conditioner, the oven, the electric dryer, and the electric water heater. If all of them try to start in the same second, a weak or newly restored service can trip again. One lamp and the refrigerator are enough load for the moment power comes back.
Food can wait. The CDC food-safety guidance says a closed refrigerator keeps food cold for about four hours. A full freezer holds about 48 hours, and a half-full freezer about 24 hours. If the outage passes four hours and you have ice, move perishable food to a cooler. Do not open the doors just to look. When food has warmed above 40°F, throw the risky items out. If you are not sure, do not taste them to decide.
Medicine that must stay cold follows the same door rule. Leave it in the refrigerator for the first hours. If you depend on a powered device, move to the backup plan you already made with your clinician, or to a location that still has power. This first-hour check is not the time to invent a new medical setup.
Heat is the other Florida problem in that first hour. Drink water, sit in the shadiest room, and use a battery fan if you have one. Close blinds on the sun side. Do not run a grill, camp stove, or generator inside, in the garage, or near a window. Ready.gov says generators, camp stoves, and charcoal grills belong outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows. Never use a gas oven as a heater.
A portable generator helps only when the connection was installed ahead of time. Plugging a generator into a wall outlet is called backfeeding. It can energize lines outside the house and injure a lineworker who thinks the circuit is dead. FPL says not to wire a generator into the breaker box yourself. If you do not already have a transfer switch or interlock, leave the generator off and read the separate guide to standby and portable generator installation.
Phone battery is part of the same wait. Dim the screen, skip video, and use texts for family check-ins. A car charger is fine if you can reach the car without crossing a flooded yard or a downed line. Idling a car in a closed garage to charge a phone is not safe, because the exhaust stays in the building.
When the First Check Means You Need an Electrician
Call for help before more troubleshooting when any of these are true. The street has power and your home does not. A breaker will not stay on. You hear buzzing from the panel. An outlet is warm, cracked, or discolored. Water reached a receptacle, a meter, or the panel. Part of the house came back and part did not. None of those are do-it-yourself resets.
My Electrician, Inc. handles emergency electrical calls across the Treasure Coast, including Port St. Lucie, Stuart, Jensen Beach, and Fort Pierce. Your side of the first check is the list above. If the fault is in the house, the next step is a licensed electrician, not another pass at the breakers. Use the emergency electrician service when waiting is not safe, and the contact page to request a visit.
Say what you already observed, in plain order. Tell them the time the lights failed, whether the neighbor's porch is lit, which rooms still work, and whether you smell heat or hear buzzing. Mention standing water if any reached the garage, the meter, or an outdoor outlet. That description lets the electrician bring the right parts and tells them whether the panel is safe to open on arrival.
Storm damage changes the order again. If the roof leaked onto a fixture, or floodwater entered the garage, do not dry the equipment and turn it on. Shut off breakers only if you can reach them from a dry floor without standing in water. Otherwise leave them alone. A later hurricane electrical safety check is the right follow-up once the weather has passed. For burning, smoke, or a shock, treat it as an electrical emergency and call 911 first.
There is a bright line between this first hour and the hours after restoration. When the utility brings power back, you still should not flip every appliance on at once. That later pass is covered in what to do in a power outage after service returns. Stay with the checks on this page while the house is dark. Start that other list only after a lamp you left on comes back by itself.
A whole-house surge device is also a later decision. It can limit damage the next time power returns with a spike, and the surge protector installation page explains where it is mounted. It will not restore a dark house tonight, and it is not a substitute for unplugging electronics during this outage.
If you rent, call the landlord after you call 911 or the utility, and do not remove panel covers. If you manage a small shop, the same split applies. A dark block is the utility. A dark unit with lit neighbors is your equipment. Either way, write the time down. Insurance and the repair visit both go faster with that note.
Request electrical repair when a breaker, outlet, or panel problem remains after the first check.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is power outage what to do first if only my house is dark?
Check one neighbor before you open the panel. If their lights are on, treat it as a home electrical problem. Unplug sensitive devices, do not keep resetting breakers, and call a licensed electrician. Call the utility as well only if you also see a downed line or damage at the pole.
Should I reset the main breaker during an outage?
Not in the first minute, and not if the panel area is wet, hot, or smelling of burning. One careful reset is reasonable only when the panel is dry, the street is also dark, and nothing looks damaged. If the breaker trips again, leave it off and call an electrician.
Who do I call for a Treasure Coast outage?
For a street-wide FPL outage or a damaged line, call 1-800-468-8243. Call 911 if a line is down or a wire is sparking. For a dark house while neighbors have power, call My Electrician, Inc. through the contact page. Use 911 first for fire, a burning smell, or a medical emergency.
Can I run a generator until the utility returns?
Only outdoors, at least 20 feet from windows, and only into appliances with a heavy cord or through a transfer switch that is already installed. Do not plug the generator into a household outlet. If you do not have that connection, wait for utility power instead of building one during the outage.
How long can food stay in the refrigerator?
The CDC says about four hours if the door stays closed. A full freezer holds closer to 48 hours, and a half-full freezer about 24 hours. After that, move food onto ice or throw out anything that warmed above 40°F. Do not taste food to test it.