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The Home Emergency Playbook

The first ten minutes of water, power, gas, storm and heat emergencies

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The problem it solves

In an emergency nobody reads a manual - they act on whatever they half-remember. This playbook gets the right first moves into your head before you need them, and onto one page you can print.

A calm, step-by-step playbook for the moments when something has gone wrong and every minute costs money. What to shut off, in what order, what to photograph for insurance, and exactly when to stop and call for help.

Who it's for

Every household. Especially anyone who has never located their main water shut-off or breaker panel.

What you'll get out of it

  • A one-page shut-off map you fill in today, before anything happens
  • First-ten-minute sequences for water, power, gas, storm, heat and cold
  • What to photograph and write down so an insurance claim is not a fight
  • The clear list of situations where you leave the house and call 911
  • A 30-minute prep session that covers most of what goes wrong

Table of contents

  1. 1. The 30-minute prep that changes everything
  2. 2. Your shut-off map
  3. 3. Burst pipe and major water leak
  4. 4. Power outage, and the safe use of generators
  5. 5. Gas smell and carbon monoxide
  6. 6. Fire and smoke: the only correct answer
  7. 7. Storm, wind and flood
  8. 8. No heat in freezing weather
  9. 9. No cooling in extreme heat
  10. 10. Sewage backups and overflowing drains
  11. 11. Documenting for insurance
  12. 12. Who to call, and what to say

Sample pages

Burst pipe: the first ten minutes

Minute 1 — Water off. Go straight to the main shut-off. Quarter-turn ball valve: turn the handle so it sits across the pipe. Round gate valve: turn clockwise until it stops. If only one fixture is involved, the small oval stop valve under the sink or behind the toilet is faster.

Minute 2 — Power off, if water is anywhere near outlets, appliances or the panel. If reaching the panel means standing in water, do not. Call an electrician or the utility.

Minute 3 — Open the lowest tap in the house. This drains the remaining pressure and stops the leak faster than anything else.

Minutes 4-6 — Photograph everything before you clean up. Wide shots of the room, close-ups of the failure, the water line on the wall, wet contents. Video with narration is even better.

Minutes 7-10 — Move what you can lift, get towels down, and start air moving. Standing water becomes a mould problem in about 48 hours.

Then call: a plumber for the pipe, your insurer to open a claim, and a water mitigation company if more than a small area is soaked.