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Date Published: 29/04/2025

Stay safe in blackouts: EU recommends 3-day emergency survival kits for all

The massive power outage across Spain and beyond has prompted the EU to reiterate the need for preparedness

This time last month, the EU issued a rather extreme recommendation that had most people rolling their eyes: each home should prepare an emergency kit to ensure their survival for 72 hours in the unlikely event of a major global crisis or catastrophe. Given the panic caused by the massive power outage that hit Spain on Monday April 28, the advice suddenly doesn’t feel quite so farfetched.

The first reports of the blackout trickled in from around noon on Monday and within a couple of hours, all of Spain, Portugal and parts of France and Germany were without power or phone signals. Just like the initial days of Covid lockdown, the supermarkets were swamped with panicked customers stockpiling everything from batteries to pasta and rice.

Thankfully, things are starting to return to normal although here in Spain, a state of emergency has been issued in eight autonomous communities including Valencia, Murcia and Andalucía.

Following the outage, Brussels has renewed its March 26 appeal that households prepare for serious threats, which could range from war to a nuclear accident, attacks on critical infrastructure, or pandemics.

“In a context of increasing natural and man-made risks and deteriorating security prospects for Europe, it is urgent that the EU and its Member States strengthen their preparedness," the EU stated.

According to the European Commission, all homes should prepare a so-called survival kit containing a list of items we should have close to hand in case of emergency, including medicines, batteries and enough food and water to survive for three days without external assistance in the event of a crisis.

These are the basic items all citizens should have in their survival kits, according to the video released by the EU:

Bottled water (minimum 5 litres per person)
Easy-to-prepare and preferably non-perishable foods
A battery-operated radio
A flashlight
A spare battery for your mobile phone
A portable stove or cooker (and bottled gas)
Matches
Cash
Medicines
Iodine pills
First aid supplies
Adhesive tape
A fire extinguisher
Hygiene items

Image: Pexels

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