meander zone...
one thing to always remember is that in the winter there might always be snow around which can be melted if you have heat. so first priority in winter is some source of reliable heat. after that water can be as easy as melting a little clean snow (no yellow or brown snow need apply! white lumps that used to be animal excretions might appear later in the season so don't let those fool you...
). really, it is much easier to keep a few jugs of potable water handy.
on first instance in the old regime at our house if the power went out i would turn off the breaker (or pull the fuse in the box inside since the breaker panel is out in the garage and it is cold out there!) to the hot water heater and then use any remaining pressure in the system to fill up five gallon buckets of water so that we would have water for flushing the toilet or rinsing dishes or whatever. it is clean water so i don't want it to go to waste. plus we have had at various times small backflows to the well so pressure is gradually lost in the system so we might as well get that water out and use what pressure is in there. oh, yea, the other obvious is to use the toilets and flush them if needed asap.
the requirement for heat is primary in the winter for sure. this means for us that i have to keep propane tank full enough to get us through a few weeks at least. a normal refill in the winter will get us through six to eight weeks depending upon how cold it is. with the new larger furnace i have to keep an eye on things closer this winter. so far the past week has gone ok, so i think the increase in size of furnace has somewhat offset itself at it being more efficient.
then when power is restored there is a whole list of things to check to make sure all is ok before i put the hot water heater breaker back on.
the pipes and hot water tank might have some air in them and also the disruption of losing power can mean that when the water pressure is restored there is a lot of stuff that comes out of the taps. black gunk. so letting the pipes clear out and the toilets get cycled, plus maybe having to cycle all of the water out of the hot water heater. i try not to use any hot water until i've let the cold water run for a while. the hot water tank itself can store a lot of heat for several days. i'm amazed at how well it does that. recent event, two days without water pressure and the hot water was still hot and i'd not put the breaker or fuse back on (or both).
once the water is running clear i might also remove and clean out the sink aerators.
the gunk in our lines is not dirt or sand it is residue from bacteria/etc in the pipes along with some chemical reaction. it's black. it doesn't do any harm other than the discoloration. once drained it is all ok again. looks horrible though at first. also have to make sure the shower and washing machine are ok or run an empty cycle to get it cleared out.
mentally. I'm seeing several days of trudging through 6-10" of snow, that is a blizzard for us.
Cold & breezy now.
no power loss.
it's bad weather.
part of the livestock deal. 
you have no livestock.
in 25 yr here, only one time that any power loss was beyond 48 hrs. I'm fortunate.
