Food storage not so crazy after all?

I am sure many of you have already heard these stories, but I thought they would be worth mentioning here on our 'food storage' blog. The idea of storing basic food and water to drink and eat doesn't seem so crazy anymore, does it? Between the earthquake in Haiti and the winter storms back east, they can teach us all a great lesson or two about being prepared!

Thankfully, the people back east were lucky to have a warning that the storm was coming. Most natural disasters come without any warning--this is when we will really find out if we are prepared or not. Better to prepare before, and not have to do last minute shopping and fight the crowds.

Here are a couple of paragraphs from a few news articles I found interesting:

Supermarkets 'ransacked' as snow storm smacks Washington

WASHINGTON (AFP) – As the second big snowstorm of the winter began dropping flakes on the US capital Friday, panicked parents grabbed their kids early from school and headed home to brace for what locals are calling "Snowpocalypse."

Many stopped off at supermarkets to stock up on last-minute provisions, but found others had already beaten them to it, emptying shelves of everything from soup to Super Bowl snacks and sidewalk salt.

Holly Bailey, a writer who lives in Washington's upscale Georgetown neighbourhood, described scenes of chaos at a local Whole Foods shop as genteel Washingtonians lost their cool in their rush to beat the big snow.

"The parking lot is road-rage central and there are people running down the street with bags trying to get in the store," Bailey told AFP.

"Yesterday, at one point they shut the store because there were so many people inside and they were letting in customers one-by-one as others came out. It was chaos. People were yelling. It was like a scene from a disaster movie," she said.
"I got there at 7:00 am and there were really long queues, and the place looked like it had been ransacked, especially the meat and veg sections," she told AFP.
"People are panicking. The shelves are almost empty. People are hoarding things like bottled water and canned food."

Mid-Atlantic shuts down ahead of huge snow warning
WASHINGTON – Shoppers jammed aisles and emptied stores of milk, bread and shovels Friday as a massive snowstorm blew into the Mid-Atlantic. Forecasters predicted a record 30 inches or more for the nation's capital, and authorities already were blaming the storm for the deaths of father-son Samaritans in Virginia.
In Alexandria, Va., James Ivery, 60, and his wife had already bought supplies but were back at a Harris Teeter supermarket to get out of the house one last time before the storm. Many shelves and bins were emptied of milk, vegetables, eggs and cold cuts. "It just seems like people are panicking."

Kudos to all those trying to prepared BEFORE we are compelled to!