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When confronted with winter storms, grocery store owners, managers and employees note an interesting phenomenon dubbed the "squirrel effect." The term applies to the fact that when confronted with any sort of disaster or potential disaster, shoppers come into the store and hoard whatever they can lay their hands on, much like squirrels stocking food away for the winter. The same reaction happens when natural disasters - hurricanes, tornadoes, etc - seem to be on the horizon, as well as directly after a disaster occurs.
At one point in time, "stocking up" meant grabbing kitchen staples, water and canned goods. Bread, milk and bananas are all popular items. But these days the definition of a staple food has changed somewhat and more shoppers are forsaking the component parts for the whole. Stores in the northern part of the country, for example, sold out of pizzas and other frozen goods, as well as sodas. Rental videos/dvd were also hot items, with people anticipating that a lot of time might be spent indoors while snow fell outside.
Here in California, I do have an earthquake supply kit (no frozen pizza in that, though), but there aren't many disastrous occasions to anticipate unless you count traffic. What do you - or would you - stock up on if you were to squirrel away some supplies in the face of a storm?
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3-02-2007 @1:57PM Joanna said... Here in Illinois, we get a big snowstorm at least once a year. Before then EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE goes to the store to stock up on anything from soup to soda (as mentioned in article). Personally I pick up pizzas, microwave dinners and items to make chili or chicken noodles over mashed potatoes. We do not have a tornado kit or a earthquake kit because they are so rare, and you never know when they are going to strike.
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3-02-2007 @3:59PM Laryssa said... Haha this definitely happens in Baltimore. Sometimes I forget that one inch of snow is predicted and I make the mistake of going to the grocery store. People are tearing vegetables out of each other's hands and hoarding canned goods. Well, that's an exagerration, but I really can't believe how nuts shoppers can be with a little bad weather on the horizon. I've never noticed this phenomenon in New Jersey, but Maryland, yes.
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3-02-2007 @2:05PM Alex said... I hardly think that stocking up on food in the face of an impending disaster (real or perceived) is a "phenomenon." I'm also surprised that this is news. Anyone who has been to a grocery store before a hurricane or blizzard has seen this happen.
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3-02-2007 @3:42PM Kaylen said... We just had a huge storm yesterday. I stopped by the liquor store for some Irish Cream and the grocery store for sushi fixings (not intended to be consumed together). That said, I keep tons of traditional staples in the house all the time. (I'm not big on prepared foods.) I'd be low on vegetables and quite bored by the end of it, but I suspect my husband and I could live over a month on what I keep in the pantry.
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3-02-2007 @2:23PM ray t. said... Charcoal or propane cannisters for the camp stove for when the power goes out. Lot's of bottled water for cooking, bathing and drinking. Lot's of trail mix and high protein packaged goods. Flour and dehydrated fruit and vegetables. Canned meat and vegetables. Bags of unsalted snack mixes. Fresh fruit that will keep without refrigeration. Heavy blankets, depending on where you live. Battery operated radio and extra batteries for the cell phone and flash lights. Don't forget plenty of candles and matches.
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3-02-2007 @2:26PM B said... I avoid going to the grocery store when a major storm is predicted, because the crowds are insane and the selection is limited.
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3-02-2007 @6:03PM SiO2 said... I really don't stock up on anything, because my refrigerator and pantry are already fairly well stocked. Even if we were stuck in the house for weeks and ran out of fresh items, I think I have on hand enough dried pasta, rice, beans, lentils, and canned items to keep my wife, son, and me alive for months. My wife's two cats, on the other hand, might not fair so well. That's okay with me. ;)
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3-02-2007 @2:33PM BrianK said... I call this the "French Toast Effect" because people seem to stage a run on the milk, bread and eggs.
Maybe it's a conspiracy by the Maple Syrup Board.
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3-02-2007 @3:33PM Mary said... I always have a pretty full pantry...we could probably go two weeks without a trip to the grocery store except for bread & milk...and even then I have dry milk in the cupboard, and all of the ingredients for bread on hand. Living in WNY we get snow storms throughout the winter, and any of our lake effect storms could leave us snowbound for a day or two. I think it's been years since we've had a storm that left us in the house for a week...but I like to get to the store well in advance of the storm predicitions so I don't have to worry about empty shelves & crazy people! Usually the one thing I will make sure I have on hand before a snow storm are all of the ingredients for a good soup or stew!
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3-02-2007 @2:44PM Myron said... When I lived in Atlanta ten years ago, a snowflake siting would clear the shelves of:
- videos
- beer
- cigarettes
- toilet paper
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3-02-2007 @2:54PM calamari said... As a city dweller, I'm more worried about having a full tank of gas than a full pantry. Any disaster large enough to prevent the nearest Walgreen's from opening is so devastating that evacuation would be the smart move.
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3-02-2007 @2:56PM Alex G. said... I lived in Brooklyn, NY on 9/11, and I remember that in the days immediately following the destruction of the WTC, the grocery stores (at least in my neighborhood) quickly ran out of baking supplies. Milk, eggs, flour, etc.
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3-02-2007 @3:29PM wynk said... When Rita came through a while back, I had to make the decision to stay or evacuate, but in the meantime I had to prepare to stay if I was going to stay. I stocked up on water, batteries (both of which I try to keep a small supply of now, anyway, because those are the things that run out the fastest), canned foods, dry goods (like rice), root vegetables and other things that don't need refrigeration, and certain frozen items - frozen veggies and meats that would stay frozen for a few days if the power went out. I have a gas stove/oven so that I can cook if there is no power (and if that breaks, we have a propane burner for frying turkeys we can always use). If that and the canned goods ran out, we have MREs (Meal-Ready-to-Eat, the military meal packet). I'd also stock up on lighters or matches, sanitary wipes, toilet paper, basic things like that.
My thing with frozen "meals" is that I don't want to be dependent on power for all of my meals. I'd prefer to keep around items that for the most part don't require refrigeration, so that I had options if the power was out more than a day or two. If you buy all frozen pizzas, that gets you through maybe 2 days without power, and then what? If it's a big enough disaster, planning ahead should mean more than the first few days of stormage, but the aftermath as well.
Oh, and there's the GIANT frozen turkey we have in our freezer, too...that thing would keep for a week or very likely more in the freezer if it went out and feed us for quiiiite a while. :P
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3-02-2007 @4:30PM Eric said... 1) Top off the liquor - no sense in not being able to entertain. In our area, blackouts can be very random in terms of who gets hit - this last storm, we lost power a day later than our neighbors.
2) Sandwich bread. We're not usually the sorts who are home for (or pack) lunch, but things that don't require a lot of prep work are good during power outages. I'm extremely partial to tuna salad since tuna keeps forever and is such a rich protein source.
3) Dry ice. There's some serious money in my freezer - $20 worth of dry ice every couple of days is well worth it.
3) Wet ice, in a separate cooler. No sense living like savages, but no sense opening the fridge up, either.
4) Duraflame logs. Good for heat, light and cooking, and one box burns for almost two days. Very handy for starting fires that later get stoked with things like the blown-down fence.
5) *ahem* Family-planning supplies. 'Nuff said.
6) D batteries. None of the other sizes ever sell out here, but D cells always do.
7) Packaged cookies. Electric range = no baking. No freezer openings = no ice cream. High-calorie snacks are important when you've been out doing something like removing tree limbs from the begonias.
8) Cheese. Sharp cheddar holds well, and dresses up improvised meals on the grill, is good on sandwiches...
Our standard housewarming gift is a supply of liquor mini-bottles, bottled juices and mixers and plastic cups, packed in a bright orange toolbox for easy identification in an emergency.
Eric
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3-02-2007 @7:40PM Dr Electro said... In the neighboring cities of Midland and Odessa, Texas, people have a tendency to be a little bit squirrely anyway. In late December or early January, I can't recall for sure which, our weather reporters began freaking out because their computer models began showing that we were in for a really bad winter storm.
Many log-time natives, like me, scoffed openly at the very idea of heavy snow here. We've gone decades now with hardly more than a dusting every other year or so. We kind of believed that it would get cold because it was already cold. Heck, anybody can predict that the weather will sta like it already is, even in West Texas where the weather is fickle all the time.
So, the squirrel effect set in at once. Our three major chain supermarkets were seen on every TV tuned to a local news broadcast for two or three days. People were charging into the stores like they were going into battle. There actually were a couple of skirmishes but no real battles. These nut cases bought fresh meat, frozen foods, milk, othe dairy products including ice cream ... get the picture?
I sat at home and laughed myself silly wondering what was going to happen to all that expensive frozen and fresh stuff if the electricity failed, as it was forecast to happen. For a great visualization of the effect, read "Alas Babylon" by Pat Frank. I couldn't get that image out of my head.
You see, even when it freezes here, it usually warms up to near fifty degrees during the day. Oftentimes, the high temp approaches seventy. I'm glad it didn't come to pass but I'm just as happy that all these squirrels looked like a bunch of nut cases.
The cardinal rule is that if you keep your larder stocked with staples like spuds, flour, baking mixes, apples, powdered milk and make sure you have a way to cook them you will be as prepared for any disaster as you can.
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3-02-2007 @7:12PM The Mad Chef said... Down here in Florida (Read: Hurricane Alley), it's usually peanut butter, jelly, bottled water, ice, and canned goods.
http://themadchefblog.blogspot.com
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3-02-2007 @7:59PM Dr Electro said... Remember Y2K? All of our services and utilities were supposed to magically disappear at the stroke of midnight. I, being a lifelong computer professional knew the real score: nothing bad was going to happen.
I laughed at the squirrels who were buying all the bottled water their gas-guzzling SUVs could carry. I laughed at the squirrels who as usual bought all the wrong things. My wife and I went to our local H E B store just to pretend we were shopping and watch some of the new year's eve silliness. It was a real hoot. I laughed out loud at one moron. A prominent millionaire in the community, he had two carts full of any kind of packaged water he could shove into them and was trying to steer two overloaded carts with his ample belly and carry two more gallons of distilled water in each hand. I almost passed out laughing.
And to The Mad Chef: There is no such thing as a surplus of peanut butter and crackers. I also like the restaurant packets of assorted jellies and cans of squeezy cheese. Some in the car, some in the basement, some encased in plastic and stashed in the Thunder Bucket. More in the pantry, more in the computer room, plenty at work and anywhere else I can find to stash them. Ok, I have a thing for peanut butter and crackers. However, one frigid night in South Dakota, my peanut butter and crackers saved my life.
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3-02-2007 @11:53PM kassie said... Two storms ago (last Saturday) we stocked up. We bought a chicken to roast, veggies, fixings for tacos, and snacks. We had movies prepared and plenty of wine and beer.
This storm (yesterday) we were not prepared. I stopped at Kmart on my bus ride home and grabbed a pizza and some tampons.
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3-03-2007 @9:54AM dave said... I live on my sailboat on the Chesapeake Bay, so my needs are a little different. I have 120 gal of diesel and 125 gal of water -- so top up tanks and make sure I have plenty of propane for the cooker and grill. Between batteries/inverter and generator I have power for weeks! So I stock up on staples to bake bread and cookies (cheap entertainment and make the boat smell good), make sure the freezer is full (runs off the batteries and a near full freezer ends up using less power to keep cold). I do buy more fresh fruits and vegetables than I would ordinarily and check that canned goods "in stock" aren't running low.
I used to get videos, but TIVO has solved that problem.
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3-05-2007 @5:37PM Mark said... We were without power for six weeks after hurricane Ivan 2 years ago. Fortunately I had a stash of Sterno cans that we were able to make a stovetop out of with a foil loaf pan and a little grate. We boiled water for tea & coffee on it and 4-5 days in when the freezer started defrosting, we all pooled the meat and grilled it all up on the remaining charcoal and pieces of fence, roof plywood and parts of one of the neighbours houses that was strewn all over the neighbourhood.
Cans of chili, quaker-type breakfast bars, some chunky soup one night. Coconuts, grapefruit, breadfruit and some tamarinds from fallen trees also got eaten. By the time our supply started running low, we were getting food flown in from florida & jamaica and the grocery stores were starting to open in limited capacities. They just unlocked the front door and handed out pre-bagged supplies for free: water, bread, granola bars and that sort of thing.
last-resort MREs were also available, but it never actually came to that, for us.
About a week after that, I had a chance to get to Miami and I hit up Outdoor World and picked up a proper sterno stove, mosquito netting, a solar shower (bliss) and a buttload of batteries for the lanterns and flashlights, and a solar/handcrank cell phone/usb charger.
Since then I've streamlined my hurricane prep kit, and this spring, before the season kicks off, I'll be reviewing it again for what works, what didn't, what needs to be replaced and what needs to be used up/discarded and replaced. I'll be posting it on my blog in May if anyone else wants to use my trialed-by-fire prep list :)
this link http://shrinkster.com/mlb is the archive URL of the before/during/after posts from sept 04.
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