There are two ways to ensure hot water after a storm, solar hot water panels and gas fired hot water heaters. If you have either o f these, then you will not need to worry about a hot water heater in planning for emergency power. Assuming the solar panels on your roof were not damaged in the storm, you should have plenty of hot water as soon as the sun comes out.
Tank Water Heaters - A typical 50 to 80 gallon hot water heater will have two 4500 watt heating coils and will require 2-3 hours to completely heat a tank of hot water, they typically heat 20-25 gallons per hour. To heat a tank of hot water, you will need to turn on only the minimal number of appliances for to 2-3 hours that you are heating the water.
Alternatively, If you do not need a lot of hot water, then use of a portable camping style gas or solar powered hot water heater will save the money needed in fuel and larger generator to supply the watts required for a hot water heater. If your hot water heater is old then you might want to look into replacing it with a new energy efficient system or a solar or gas system.
Instant/Tankless Hot Water heaters – These types if water heaters draw an incredible number of watts for a short period of time. A whole house electric instant hot water heater can draw 20KW, more than most generators can supply so if you have an electric instant hot water system it might not be able to supply your needs when running on a backup generator..
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