In my experience, this is not a safe assumption. In L.A., on the first day of the L.A. riots I went to my nearest supermarket and it was closed. Then I went to the gas-station convenience store across the street -- it was open, but all of the shelves were completely cleared out except for, weirdly, a single 8-oz bag of chips. I bought them.
This was only about four hours after the Rodney King verdicts were announced. Looting hadn't even hit my area yet.
As we've seen with ammo recently, it doesn't take much panic buying to make a formerly reliable supply disappear.
Excellent point.
Many folks assumptions, are not there.
I was involved in resupply during Andrew in south Florida in 92, and Was in Manhattan for the black out in 2003. (I feel I must explain, My daughter already graduated from university, and wanted to live in the big apple. I didn't want her to go alone, so we got a nice apartment in the East Village (note: not many good ole' boys in the East Village) but I enjoyed the time with my daughter for a couple of years)
My point though. I was literally walking into the apartment when the power failed, my daughter was just coming around the corner of our block, so we were good.
But as Travis stated, with hours the fresh fruit, veggies, and meat were gone. We got some fried chicken, and our regular grocer gave us all the fresh stuff we could carry. We took enough for one meal.
By the next morning the grocer shelves were already thin, and the Mayor wasn't letting vehicles into the city. The trains up there were all electric, weren't going anywhere either.
People behaved, but by Saturday night around 8pm when the power came back in our neighborhood, it started on Thursday afternoon, you could feel the tension.
Food was low, in many places none.
I had thrown together a couple of packs for my daughter and I, and told her if push comes to shove, we were going to walk out to New Jersey and get to where the power was still on. My mother still lived in Florida in our Family home, and we could get transportation to there once we got to a destination outside the failure zone.
My point. is TravisB's point. The "supplies" go fast. Don't count on much you don't already have and control.
In Andrew many of the supplies were destroyed by the disaster itself. And within a few hours the food and useful stuff was gone.
I went with a buddy who had family in the V ring, and at one point I was literally sitting in the back of his truck with my shotgun in high port.
Many of the other trucks that didn't have someone riding "shotgun" had stuff swiped. we didn't, and got all the supplies and material to his family and friends. We helped them for a few days, stood guard at night, and headed home IIRC three days.
After the National Guard got there he took another load of stuff down, by himself and said he didn't have a problem.
But TravisB is right. be very careful abut your assumptions. The wrong ones can get you in very deep Kimschie.
And never forget. "MURPHY IS AN OPTIMIST"
Go figure.
Fred
