Power Outages

During an emergency, it is recommended that these facilities adhere to the following recommendations even if they are not licensed food establishments:

• Hospitals
• Schools
• Daycares
• Long term care facilities
• Adult foster homes
• Group homes

All licensed food establishments must adhere to the Emergency Action Plans for Retail Food Establishments. This plan contains Emergency Action Plans for:

• Interruption of Electrical Service
• Interruption of Water Service
• Contaminated Water Supply (Biological)
• Sewage Back-up
• Fire
• Flood

Visit the MDARD Emergency Action Plan website to view plans in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic.

When a Power Outage Occurs

Michigan Department of Agriculture encourages all food establishments to follow the instructions outlined in the “Interruption of Electrical Service” section of the Emergency Action Plans for Retail Food Establishments guide.

• Food establishments without power are ordered to cease operation unless the following can be maintained:
  • Power can be maintained through use of generator.
  • Sale of only non-perishable foods, once hot food supply is gone.
  • Use of single-serve articles if possible. Manual dishwashing may be done using any remaining hot water.
• Discontinue all cooking and:
  • Throw away any foods that are in the process of being cooked but have not yet reached their safe final cooking temperature.
  • Maintain hot foods at 140ºF using canned heat if possible.
  • Discard hot food that has been held below 140ºF for more than 4 hours.
• Stop using gas or solid fuel cooking and heating equipment if the exhaust hood and make-up air systems stop working. Using this equipment without proper ventilation can lead to a dangerous build up of toxic fumes that may cause injury or death.
• Keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible.
• Pack perishable food with commercially made ice or dry ice.
• Keep track of the time the outage began and note time power was lost and initial temperature of refrigeration units.

After a Power Outage

Before reopening, food establishment operators must follow the recovery instructions in the Emergency Action Plans for Retail Food Establishments guide.

• Discard potentially hazardous food exceeding the following time and temperature ranges:
  • 42ºF or higher for five or more hours
  • 46ºF or higher for four or more hours
  • 50ºF or higher for two or more hours
• Ensure refrigeration equipment returns to 41F or below.
• Cool remaining properly refrigerated food to below 41F within one hour.
• Frozen food that remains solid or semi-solid can be refrozen if food packages show no evidence of thawing, such as stains or container damage.
• Clean and sanitize surfaces and equipment, including ice bins.
• Label discarded foods "poisonous".

Emergencies, such as power outages and flooding, can threaten the quality of drinking water from your water well system. Below is information regarding potential hazards arising from emergency situations and advice on how to protect you and your family against illness.

Protecting Your Private Water Supply in an Emergency

The Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act, Act 399, P.A. of 1976, as amended and rules (Act), requires that Type II Noncommunity drinking water supplies be disinfected and sampled for Coliform bacteria if an interruption in water service to the distribution system occurs.

A Noncommunity Water Supply is a water system that provides water for drinking or potable purposes to 25 or more persons at least 60 days per year or has 15 or more service connections.

You must enact the following precautionary measures if your Type II facility loses power:

1. Provide bottled water for consumptive purposes.
2. Post public notice to not consume the water. Please contact Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) for copies.
3. Have well disinfected by a registered well drilling contractor if positive pressure was not maintained during the power outage (i.e. no water came out of the faucet). If pressure is maintained, skip to step 4.
4. Flush the water system thoroughly.
5. Collect two (2) bacteriological water samples at least 24 hours apart to a certified drinking water lab. Submit the sample results to OCHD.

Precautionary measures may not be lifted until approval from OCHD has been issued. Contact OCHD Environmental Health Services at 248-858-1312 with further questions.

• Oakland County Emergency Management Information
• Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): What to Do to Protect Yourself During a Power Outage
• Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS)

Visit Oakland County Emergency Management to see a list of warming or cooling centers in your area.

You can also visit our Cold Weather Precautions page for a list of warming centers.