ONE MILLION WITHOUT POWER after ice storm: They can’t read it, but here’s a blackout survival guide, and here are some home generator safety guidelines. Others may find it useful in preparing for their own inevitable power loss.

Or you can get a big honking battery. (Some useful backup power advice in general at the link, too.) Or you can always power your house with a Prius!

UPDATE: Some generator advice from Bart Hall: “Yesterday we toasted a couple of transformers (router and furnace) because the generator was cranking out 160 volts instead of 120V. We’ve used this generator without problem for years, but evidently there was either a short in the field or the voltage regulator failed, and it’ll cost us well over a hundred bucks, not counting repairs to the generator itself. Henceforth I’ll meter the output before backfeeding the house, and recommend you do the same.”