help.
first, turn off every electric item that you had on.
for me that included the stove, fan, radio, and lights in several rooms.
when the power comes back on, you don't want to get surprised by weird noises. our neighbors were frightened when their electric doorbell rang every few seconds when the power came back on at 4am.
since i have city water, pumped to my home without delay, i washed all the dishes in my sink. who wants to deal with dirty dishes and no hot water? i knew the hot water take would hold the heat for a bit of time, but not for hours.
if you are like many of my 