All of my important, sensitive appliances are plugged into a 'power strip'. Each power strip has a switch on it that I can turn on and off. Hey, I'm prepared. San Diego, where I live now, has it easy. But this is before that, and I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for my incredibly intelligent foresight.
Modern appliances expect to be plugged in at all times.
When the power returns, our digital clocks will flash at noon. One of them is smart enough to advance normally even while flashing, so you can tell how long it's been since the power came back on. It's the same one that is supposed to have a battery backup, but I took the battery out to power my guitar tuner. The answering machine will have to be reset. It has no battery backup.