What to do if there is a solar storm

Official updatesLU-Alert · RTL, 100.7 · 112

Do this now

Follow LU-Alert and the radio on Status: Verified. A strong solar storm can disturb the power grid, satellites, satellite navigation and phone networks, and the authorities will say what to expect.
Switch off what you do not need and use as little electricity as you can while the storm lasts. It helps keep the grid running.
Charge phones, power banks and laptops now, while the power is on.
Fill bottles, pans and the bathtub with water. Water pumps need electricity, and without them taps and toilets can stop working.
Fill the car tank or charge the electric car, in case fuel pumps and charging points stop.
Agree now how your household will find each other if phones and the internet go down: who goes where, and when.
Keep a paper map and some cash to hand. If the power goes, follow Power is out.

A solar storm can disrupt several services at once: electricity, mobile networks, the internet and satellite navigation. Plan as if none of them works for a while.
Write the important phone numbers and addresses on paper, and agree Status: Verified meeting points with your household. Keep the household plan printed, not only on your phone.
Keep paper maps of your area and of the route home from work and school.
Keep cash in small notes: Status: Verified per adult and Status: Verified per child. Cards and cash machines need power and a network.

Water: Status: Verified per person per day, for Status: Verified.
Food you can eat without cooking, Status: Verified torch per person with Status: Verified spare sets of batteries, and a battery or wind-up radio.
A charged power bank, and your medicines for at least Status: Verified. See the emergency kit checklist.
Keep the car at least Status: Verified full.

Luxembourg's official sites have no page on solar storms. If one affects the country, expect news on the radio first, then on LU-Alert while the networks work, and on infocrise. The levels are explained on Alerts and sirens.

When the power returns, wait before switching things back on. Reconnect the heating first, then the fridge and freezer, then wait Status: Verified minutes before the rest.
Check the food in the fridge and freezer, as described on Power is out.
Until things are back to normal, check routes on a paper map rather than trusting satellite navigation alone.
Check on neighbours who are older, ill or alone.
Restock what you used: water, batteries, food, cash, fuel.

Tell them in plain words what a solar storm does: it can stop the lights, the phones and the internet for a while, and you have a plan for that.

If you depend on powered medical equipment, agree a backup plan with your doctor now, and tell a neighbour or the building management that you may need help.

Include their food and water in your stock, and fill an extra container for them when you fill the bathtub.

Lifts stop and water pressure can fail on the upper floors when the power goes. Fill containers early, and plan for the stairs.