Generator Fumes During Floods: Carbon Monoxide Signs at Home
The answer: a generator, angeethi or coal stove must never run inside the house, in a closed verandah, garage or stairwell, because it fills the air with carbon monoxide, a gas you can’t see or smell. If several people at home get a headache, dizziness or sleepiness at the same time, get everyone into fresh air first and ask questions later.
The short version
- Generator: outdoors only, well away from doors, windows and vents, with the exhaust pointing away from the house.
- Angeethi, coal or wood fire: never in a closed room, especially not for sleeping.
- Warning signs: headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness, confusion, unusual sleepiness, in more than one person or pet.
- First step: everyone out into open air, switch off the source only if it’s safe, call 1122 (Pakistan), 112 (India) or your local number.
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Floods bring long power cuts. Food needs cooking, phones need charging, and since nobody wants the generator out in the wet, it gets pushed onto the verandah with the shutter pulled half down, or the angeethi comes indoors to dry clothes and keep the children warm on a damp night. Both poison families in their sleep. This guide explains what carbon monoxide is, the early signs, what to do in the first minutes, and how to run a generator safely in the rain. It’s part of our Barsaat and Flood Season series.
What carbon monoxide is, in plain words
When petrol, diesel, coal, wood or gas burns without enough air, it makes carbon monoxide (CO), a gas with no colour and no smell. Invisible.
Your red blood cells carry oxygen around the body like little delivery vans, and CO jumps into those vans and grabs the seats far more strongly than oxygen does, so the brain and heart slowly stop getting what they need. Nobody feels breathless. They feel tired, sick and muddled, then sleepy, and in bad cases they don’t wake up.
A generator’s exhaust is full of it. In a closed space, one small machine can make the air deadly within minutes.
You can’t smell carbon monoxide. The generator’s petrol smell tells you nothing about how much CO is in the room.
Warning signs of carbon monoxide poisoning at home
Early signs look like flu. That’s why they’re missed.
- Headache, often a dull band across the forehead
- Dizziness and feeling faint
- Nausea or vomiting
- Weakness, tiredness, unusual sleepiness
- Confusion, blurry vision, clumsiness
- Breathlessness or chest pain with effort
- In severe cases: fainting, fits, unconsciousness
The pattern gives it away: several people in the same room feel ill together, the pets are sluggish too, everyone feels better after going outside or to a neighbour’s and worse again back inside, and it all started after the generator or angeethi came on.
Babies, pregnant women, the elderly and anyone with heart or lung disease get hurt faster and more badly. A baby may just be unusually floppy, sleepy or feeding poorly.
What to do in the first minutes
- Get everyone out into open air now, carrying the children and helping elderly parents, without stopping to pack anything at all.
- If it’s quick and safe, switch off the generator or put out the angeethi on your way out. Don’t go back in to do it.
- Leave doors open.
- Call 1122 in Pakistan, 112 in India, or your local emergency number, and say you suspect carbon monoxide.
- Unconscious but breathing? Side position. Not breathing? CPR.
- Everyone with symptoms needs a hospital check, even if they feel better outside. Doctors may give high-flow oxygen and check the blood.
- Don’t go back inside until the source is off and the house has aired for a good while.
Go to hospital straight away for anyone who fainted, was hard to wake, is confused, has chest pain, fits, a racing heart or breathing difficulty, and for any pregnant woman or baby exposed, even with mild signs. CO can harm an unborn baby when the mother feels only a little unwell. Some people get memory or mood problems days or weeks later, so mention the exposure to your doctor if anything feels off afterwards.
How to run a generator safely in the rain
Fumes stay outside. Rain is the hard part.
- Put the generator outdoors, on a dry raised spot, at least 6 metres (about 20 feet) from doors, windows and air vents.
- Point the exhaust away from the house and away from neighbours’ windows.
- For rain cover, use a small open-sided canopy or a purpose-made cover that lets air flow on all sides. Never an enclosed box or a closed room.
- Never run it in a verandah with the shutter down, a garage (even with the door open), a stairwell, a basement or under a car porch next to a window.
- Switch it off and let it cool before refuelling, and store fuel away from the house.
- Run extension cables through a gap, not by propping the door wide open next to the machine.
- Don’t sleep with any generator running near a window of the sleeping room.
A battery-powered CO alarm near sleeping areas is worth buying, especially if you rely on a generator or gas heaters. Test it monthly and swap the batteries as the pack says.
Angeethi, coal and wood fires during a flood
When clothes won’t dry and bedding smells damp, the angeethi or a bucket of coals often comes inside, and the same poison comes with it, because glowing coals make lots of CO with very little smoke, so the room can look perfectly clear and smell fine while the air turns dangerous.
- Cook and dry clothes with a coal or wood fire only outdoors, or in a space open on at least one full side.
- Never take an angeethi into a bedroom or a closed room at night.
- Kerosene lamps and gas heaters need a window open a hand’s width.
Our winter guide to gas heater and angeethi safety covers heaters in more depth, and the gas geyser safety article explains the bathroom risk. For staying cool in summer power cuts without running machines indoors, see heatwave and load shedding: how to cool down without a fan.
Many grandparents always left a window cracked open when a fire burned inside, and told children not to sleep near the angeethi. That habit was right. Modern generators are far more dangerous than a small coal fire, so the gap must be much bigger: the machine goes fully outside.
Generator fumes and carbon monoxide: questions people ask
Can I run a generator on the verandah if the shutter is open?
No. Verandahs, garages and porches trap exhaust. Fully outside only.
What are the first signs of carbon monoxide poisoning?
Headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness and unusual sleepiness. If more than one person feels this at home, especially with a generator or angeethi running, treat it as CO and get outside.
Can you smell carbon monoxide from a generator?
No. You may smell petrol or exhaust, but carbon monoxide itself has no smell. A room can be dangerous with no smell at all.
Is it safe to sleep with an angeethi in the room?
No. Glowing coal makes carbon monoxide steadily, and sleep hides the warning signs. Put the fire out and take it outside before anyone sleeps.
How far should a generator be from the house?
At least about 6 metres (20 feet) from doors, windows and vents, with the exhaust facing away. Farther is better.
How long does it take to recover from carbon monoxide poisoning?
Mild cases often feel better within hours of fresh air and oxygen. Severe cases may need longer hospital care, and some people notice memory or mood problems weeks later. The doctor decides on follow-up.
Is carbon monoxide more dangerous for babies and pregnant women?
Yes. Babies breathe faster and absorb it quickly, and an unborn baby can be harmed even when the mother feels only mildly ill. Any exposure in pregnancy or infancy needs a doctor.
Does opening a window make a generator indoors safe?
No. One open window can’t clear it.
Do CO alarms work in Pakistan and India homes?
Yes. Battery-powered carbon monoxide alarms work anywhere and don’t need mains power, which suits load shedding. Fit one near sleeping rooms and test it monthly.