Anyone stockpiling food?

[karen4546]

You don't think you'll ever be in an extreme situation, but your DH makes you use a 'bug out' backpack?

no i do not think there will be a situation where I will have to use the entire back pack. Please know my husband does not MAKE me do anything. He makes us all a bag. He does not MAKE us use it. I have used some of the items in mine but I have not used most of what is in there.

My husband likes to be prepared. like i said before, i just think of it as his hobby.

 

[karen4546]

If you are on a well, if power goes out (and where we live it often does) you have no water. If I lived in town, I would have some extra water around in case of earthquakes, but for this latest hysteria I wouldn't think it would be necessary.

We have a well that used a generator. We are on the local water service. The well is used for watering our garden. We do not drink the well water. We would if we put a filter on it.

 

[pryncess527]

I’m immunosuppressed, so while we aren’t stockpiling per se, I did make sure our pantry was fully stocked, just in case it becomes wise for me to stay home bound for a week or two.

 

[barkley]

Lack of power seems bad until you deal with lack of water, right.

Around Day 8 we finally got a generator and our retired electrician neighbor helped us by hard wiring it right into our circuit box to run the house basics. Rest his soul; he was a fantastic neighbor.

that's the way ours is set up as well. the longer outage was during the not so cold months but the other was during sub zero so there were a number of homeowners whose pipes froze during the outage and when the power came back on and those well pumps kicked on it was burst pipes galore. i know a number of people on wells in parts of california where the temps get below freezing regularly during the winter-after the rolling outages last year they've been on waiting lists to get generators installed, they live in fear of burst pipes in the winter/no source for fire protection in the summers (db's area lost all water and cell service during last years outage so they couldn't call fire and rescue and were just praying nothing sparked up around them).

 

[Imzadi]

I don't understand the math of only needing 14 days of a Coronavirus stockpile. Say your area gets hit with an actual diagnosed case. So everyone bunkers down for 14 days, eating though their 14 day stockpile. But, it can take 14 days for symptoms to show up. On Day 13, your neighbor across the street and one down the block are diagnosed with Coronavirus.

What are you supposed to do? Technically, you will be out of food in the next day (or two.) Along with everyone else in the area. You WILL have to go out and try to find more food. (And possibly expose people to Corona virus as you've had contact with the neighbor across the street.) After the first case was confirmed, all food within a 50 mile radius was already wiped out of the stores. When the latter 2 cases are confirmed, add on another 50+ mile radius.

Why were we told to only stockpile for 2 weeks?

And I don't get telling us to stockpile water. If we don't normally buy bottled water, tap water is not going to get infected.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Nope

 

[NYCgrrl]

I don't understand the math of only needing 14 days of a Coronavirus stockpile. Say your area gets hit with an actual diagnosed case. So everyone bunkers down for 14 days, eating though their 14 day stockpile. But, it can take 14 days for symptoms to show up. On Day 13, your neighbor across the street and one down the block are diagnosed with Coronavirus.

What are you supposed to do? Technically, you will be out of food in the next day (or two.) Along with everyone else in the area. You WILL have to go out and try to find more food. (And possibly expose people to Corona virus as you've had contact with the neighbor across the street.) After the first case was confirmed, all food within a 50 mile radius was already wiped out of the stores. When the latter 2 cases are confirmed, add on another 50+ mile radius.

Why were we told to only stockpile for 2 weeks?

And I don't get telling us to stockpile water. If we don't normally buy bottled water, tap water is not going to get infected.

You raise a good point if say your entire building is under quarantine. However what the concern is as it relates to this protocol is that everyone is in your immediate residence where someone is known to have corona is required to stay in their home for 2 weeks. Maybe the residents of multiple dwellings will get one of those pest control tents I see in the movies, LOL- ish-ish.

I didn't hear that a supply of water should be kept on hand but probably I missed that. Normally, I just drink tap water.

 

[Farro]

You raise a good point if say your entire building is under quarantine. However what the concern is as it relates to this protocol is that everyone is in your immediate residence where someone is known to have corona is required to stay in their home for 2 weeks. Maybe the residents of multiple dwellings will get one of those pest control tents I see in the movies, LOL- ish-ish.

I didn't hear that a supply of water should be kept on hand but probably I missed that. Normally, I just drink tap water.

Yes, I thought it was more for if one of us (god forbid) gets it. We would/should self-quarantine for two weeks.

We work from home one day a week. I take the CTA everyday. If/when Chicago starts having more cases, I hope my workplace allows us to work from home everyday until it gets under control here. I'd really rather not take the CTA everyday. I sure hope it doesn't even get to that though!

 

[HopperFan]

I don't understand the math of only needing 14 days of a Coronavirus stockpile. Say your area gets hit with an actual diagnosed case. So everyone bunkers down for 14 days, eating though their 14 day stockpile. But, it can take 14 days for symptoms to show up. On Day 13, your neighbor across the street and one down the block are diagnosed with Coronavirus.

What are you supposed to do? Technically, you will be out of food in the next day (or two.) Along with everyone else in the area. You WILL have to go out and try to find more food. (And possibly expose people to Corona virus as you've had contact with the neighbor across the street.) After the first case was confirmed, all food within a 50 mile radius was already wiped out of the stores. When the latter 2 cases are confirmed, add on another 50+ mile radius.

Why were we told to only stockpile for 2 weeks?

And I don't get telling us to stockpile water. If we don't normally buy bottled water, tap water is not going to get infected.

You raise a good point if say your entire building is under quarantine. However what the concern is as it relates to this protocol is that everyone is in your immediate residence where someone is known to have corona is required to stay in their home for 2 weeks. Maybe the residents of multiple dwellings will get one of those pest control tents I see in the movies, LOL- ish-ish.

I didn't hear that a supply of water should be kept on hand but probably I missed that. Normally, I just drink tap water.

I think the problem is that in this country there are no plans for any large scale "emergency" that involves quarantine, curfews etc. If there were a system in place then hopefully stores would not run out and be stocked regularly. I don't think we can trust that a system will be initiated, enforced and functionable ... I think that is why many are saying they want to stock up on items they need anyway, just have extras in case their community is affected.

Family in China (large city) has been quarantined for some time. They are permitted, with gloves and masks to leave once every 3 days specifically to get some grocery items. Restricting your activity, shopping etc allows the stores to get more supplies, not running out. They are forcing themselves to walk at least 5 miles a day in their apartment so they don't become sedentary. That would be a good way to become compromised. Lots of reading and trying to work online but that is difficult for the one who teaches. Nothing like facetime, video chat, youtube etc is allowed in China. AND they are being told it is under control and on decline.

I would say 14 days is just the basic to get someone who might be sick through their quarantine but as you say is that enough. I am pretty sure that it is 14 days HEALTHY but what about the time you might be sick but not sick enough to go to a hospital. At that point the whole household needs to quarantine and that is much more than 14 days of food.

I agree bottled water is not needed if you drink tap water. We drink tap but we filter it so I ordered a box of filters, use them anyway. All reports say they don't think anyone will lose power, water or any other utilities.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I don't understand the math of only needing 14 days of a Coronavirus stockpile. Say your area gets hit with an actual diagnosed case. So everyone bunkers down for 14 days, eating though their 14 day stockpile. But, it can take 14 days for symptoms to show up. On Day 13, your neighbor across the street and one down the block are diagnosed with Coronavirus.

What are you supposed to do? Technically, you will be out of food in the next day (or two.) Along with everyone else in the area. You WILL have to go out and try to find more food. (And possibly expose people to Corona virus as you've had contact with the neighbor across the street.) After the first case was confirmed, all food within a 50 mile radius was already wiped out of the stores. When the latter 2 cases are confirmed, add on another 50+ mile radius.

Why were we told to only stockpile for 2 weeks?

And I don't get telling us to stockpile water. If we don't normally buy bottled water, tap water is not going to get infected.

What if something impacts the water supply while the coronavirus is at epidemic levels? These are things you shouldn't just be doing for the corona virus. These are things you should be doing anyway. And the 14 days of stockpiled food would be tapped after the regular food runs out. People would eat their perishables on hand before they tapped the non perishable stash they stockpiled. That said timing would have to be impeccable to avoid the corona virus. Likely people will end up exposed before they know it.

 

[MarkLT1]

The other thing to consider- in the US, the average person eats too much per day anyway. So if a scenario came about where you were unable to obtain more food, and you had 14-days worth of extra food around your house (and as others have mentioned- you first burn through your perishable stuff), most could likely ration that 14-days worth of "normal eating" to last 3 or even 4-weeks. Would you be hungry? Yes. Would you die of starvation or malnourishment in that time? Not likely.

I figure with the extra 4-weeks or so of food I have, plus my current weeks worth of normal groceries, if the stuff really hit the fan tomorrow (not something I am expecting to happen by any means) we could get by for 7-8 weeks. We wouldn't be terribly comfortable in the process, as we'd be eating less than we're used to, but we could make it work.

Also, if there was an outbreak in my area, even without quarantines and runs on food, having the extra food on hand would allow us to go out in public less often, limiting our windows of exposure.

Personally, I am doubtful any of these scenarios will play out, but it gives me some comfort knowing I now have flexibility/options. After all, I don't pay for car insurance hoping/thinking I'll actually need to use it. Only in this case, buying stuff we'll already eat over time, I am really not out any additional cost (I made sure to reserve enough room in the freezer for a gallon of ice cream, so I am all set!)

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

Again, the world is not going to stop around you. You'll still be able to get supplies if you are quarantined.

Perhaps, but likely not at a good price or the brand/flavor desired. Read today that Chinese factories are only running at 60-70% capacity...that will affect the US in the coming months and shortages might last a year or two for some products.

 

[aprilgail]

not at all- not really concerned- more people die from the flu than the Corona Virus, cant imagine them attempting to quarantine areas over it.

 

[pryncess527]

Perhaps, but likely not at a good price or the brand/flavor desired. Read today that Chinese factories are only running at 60-70% capacity...that will affect the US in the coming months and shortages might last a year or two for some products.

yeah I think production supply/shipping concerns are likely to be more problematic. I’m grateful my meds aren’t made in China

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

yeah I think production supply/shipping concerns are likely to be more problematic. I’m grateful my meds aren’t made in China

It isn't just the meds but the chemical components, the packaging, the inks for both the meds and packaging, replacement parts when the highly specialized manufacturing equipment breaks. Then if production is delayed for even a short bit the company might decide to prioritize other medicine than was scheduled. I would not want to be relying on meds that are not as profitable as others in times of scarcity.

 

[DisneyDar]

Did you hoard for the 11,000 +/- that died from the flu?

 

[AnnaS]

Wow - 8 pages - I think we could live in our home for at least a month without going to the store. My dh ran yesterday to Shoprite because cantaloupes were on sale. He said the store was mobbed. Everyone had wagons filled. The way it would look if we had a snow storm coming.

We will do our normal food shopping tomorrow. We have two refrigerators and a deep freezer. I will buy some extra frozen veggies (need some anyway/low). Tuna is on sale/coupon - I doubt I will buy much extra. I might buy an extra Almond Milk container that is not refrigerated - I usually buy the refrigerated one. One really cannot buy perishable items.

As long as we have toilet paper and some food - pasta/sauces/canned and frozen food - we should be good regardless but not going out to buy because we are worried "yet".

 

[Snowysmom]

We picked up a few extras like paper goods, dog treats, and staple type foods. DH is a bit of a worrier. But, everything we bought we would have bought over the next few weeks and will use. I went along with it mainly because I figured there might be a run on the supermarkets. My supermarket was actually less crowded than usual today so I don't think many people are stocking up. The media needs to stop the fear mongering.

 

[hertamaniac]

I always have a hurricane kit ready which is for about 7-10 days. I don't see the need to double or triple that.

 

[Darcy03231]

We've stocked up non-perishable items and filled the freezer. I've also stocked up on OTC medications. We haven't gone crazy, but we typically shop every other day and don't tend to keep a lot on hand. If someone in the house gets sick and we need to stay in I wanted to make sure that we have enough for 2-3 weeks.