Chapter 9Urban survival
Chapter 9 · Situations and settings · 20 min read

Urban survival

In the city you will almost never need to make fire with a bow drill or look for water in a creek. What you will live through, sooner or later, is a long blackout, a boil water notice, a fire in the building, a gas leak, a blocked street, or a gas station with no fuel. This chapter is designed for your home or apartment and the people and pets in your household. Natural disasters (flood, tornado, heat, freeze) are in chapter 10; the contents of the kit are in chapter 2.

The essentials · if you only have a minute
  • Generator: always outside, more than 20 feet (6 m) from doors and windows. Never inside your home or apartment, the garage, or the hallway. Have a battery-powered CO detector.
  • Blackout: don't open the refrigerator. It keeps food safe for about 4 hours; a full freezer, about 48 hours.
  • Boil water notice (from your water utility): boil at a rolling boil for 2 minutes, or use bottled water, for drinking, cooking, making ice, and brushing your teeth.
  • Fire: you may have only 2 minutes. Get out, close the door behind you, call 911 from outside, and don't go back. From a low floor, your window is your second exit.
  • You smell gas (rotten eggs): don't touch switches or phones inside. Get out, leave the door open, and call 911 and your gas company from a distance.
  • Active shooter: RUN if you can, HIDE if you can't, FIGHT only as a last resort.
  • Keep your car's tank above half and have decided where you would go and by what route.

In this chapter

9.1Introduction1 min read9.2Extended blackouts and rolling blackouts5 min read0/139.3Water outages and boil water notices2 min read9.4Fire in an apartment building3 min read0/59.5Gas leak1 min read9.6Civil unrest, violence, and active shooter2 min read0/69.7Trapped in the car1 min read9.8Without transportation1 min read0/59.9Gas shortages1 min read0/49.10Home security and sheltering in place1 min read0/59.11Urban evacuation: when and how2 min read9.12Your neighbor network1 min read0/79.13Quick sheet: urban emergencies1 min read
Chapter sources (1)
  1. 1.Grid Insight: Grid Conditions Notifications (TXANS y EEA) — ERCOT, dic. 2025 — https://www.ercot.com/files/docs/2025/12/17/ERCOT- Grid-Insight-Grid-Conditions-Notifications.pdf 2.Generator Safety Fact Sheet — CDC — https://www.cdc.gov/carbon-monoxide/media/pdfs/Generators_1.pdf 3.Food Safety During a Power Outage — FoodSafety.gov (USDA/FDA/CDC) — https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety-charts/food-safety- during-power-outage 4.Power Outages — Ready.gov / FEMA — https://www.ready.gov/power-outages 5.February 2021 Winter Storm-Related Deaths, Texas — Texas DSHS, 30 dic. 2021 — https://www.dshs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/news/ updates/SMOC_FebWinterStorm_MortalitySurvReport_12-30-21.pdf 6.Winter Storm 2021 survey — Hobby School of Public Affairs, University of Houston — https://uh.edu/news-events/stories/2021/ march-2021/03292021-hobby-winter-storm.php 7.Citywide Boil Water Notice; avisos locales de hervir agua — SAWS — https://newsroom.saws.org/citywide-boil-water-notice-in-place ; https://www.saws.org/terra-mont-stonewall-estates-boil-water-notice/ 8.Natural Gas Safety FAQ; Contact Us — CPS Energy — https://www.cpsenergy.com/content/corporate/en/about-us/energy-safety-and- preparedness/natural-gas-safety-faq.html ; https://www.cpsenergy.com/content/corporate/en/customer-support/contact-us.html 9.Home Fire — American Red Cross — https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-of-emergencies/fire.html 10.Escape Planning — NFPA — https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/home-fire-safety/escape-planning 11.Texas Property Code §92.153 (dispositivos de seguridad) y §92.255 (detectores de humo) — https://texas.public.law/statutes/ tex._prop._code_section_92.153 ; https://texas.public.law/statutes/tex._prop._code_section_92.255 12.Active Shooter Preparedness / Run. Hide. Fight. — CISA (DHS) y FBI — https://www.cisa.gov/topics/physical-security/active-shooter- preparedness ; https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/active-shooter-safety-resources 13.Winter Weather Safety: During — NOAA/National Weather Service — https://www.weather.gov/safety/winter-during 14.Parked Cars Get Hot Fast (NHTSA) — City of Arlington, TX, jun. 2026 — https://www.arlingtontx.gov/News-Articles/2026/June/NHTSA- Parked-Cars-Get-Hot-Fast-And-Can-Be-Deadly 15.Get Emergency Notifications (REAN / AlertSA) — Bexar County — https://www.bexar.org/2090/Get-Emergency-Notifications 16.I-37 Contraflow — TxDOT — https://www.txdot.gov/content/dam/docs/trf/hurricane-preparation/i37-contraflow.pdf 17.San Antonio declared a disaster area, prepares for evacuees — Texas Public Radio, 25 ago. 2017 — https://www.tpr.org/news/2017-08-25/ san-antonio-declared-a-disaster-area-prepares-for-evacuees 18.City of San Antonio Shares Heat Safety Reminders and Tips (311, 210-207-6000) — Ciudad de San Antonio, 2026 — https://www.sa.gov/ Directory/News-Releases/City-of-San-Antonio-Shares-Heat-Safety-Reminders-and-Tips-2026