We all know that when a big storm is about to hit, everyone runs to the grocery store to buy bread, milk and eggs – and that’s just for a winter snow storm that might dump 3″ of snow on the ground.
American retail & manufacturers work on the Just In Time theory of supply – get what you need only just in time before you actually need it instead of spending money on storing it until then. Grocery stores use this same premise. They don’t stockpile vast amounts of food stuffs in the back – they work on a 3 day inventory.
So what happens when…a great storm is coming, whether it’s a hurricane to rival Katrina or a snowstorm that will dump multiple feet of snow. If everyone in the region heads to the grocery store at once to stock up, the store won’t be getting resupplied until the next trucks arrive. Maybe a truck will be in the next day, maybe not. If roads are blocked, iced over, or the trucks have been stopped for whatever other reason, the 3 Days of Food that people assume are always available in the grocery store can be gone within hours when a population panics.
So if you’re relying on the fact that in an emergency situation, you’ll have a day or so before the store runs out of food so you can wait a little longer to pick something up, you could be very wrong.
How to combat that? Carry more than 3 days worth of food in your own home! FEMA recommends a 3 day supply of food and water, though local authorities in many areas are beginning to recommend at least 7 days of food and water.
Want to know how to get there? Here is a series that can help get you stocked up so that you don’t have to worry!
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