Are people seeing panic buying yet? Walgreens was nearly out of hand sanitizer but food/paper goods supplies here still seem fine.
I havenāt noticed any panic buying, but Iām in Michigan and as of this morning we havenāt had any cases here.
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Nothing here that Iāve noticed (CO)ā¦the Costco parking lot looked terrifying when I drove past this morning, but the Costco parking lot always looks terrifying so I donāt think thatās an indicator of anything.
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No hand sanitizer and very few disinfectant wipes at Walmart, but nearby dollar general has wipes. Walmart almost out of flour and corn meal, but they have been having stupid logistical issues lately and I think thatās more likely than hoarding, especially given there was still plenty of sugar and, for that matter, bread. Cold remedies looked fine.
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Iām in the Bay Area and havenāt seen panic buying yet, although tbf I donāt pay attention to hand sanitizer (which might be a Thing).
We stocked up a bit, since we usually tend to not keep a lot of extra food around ā got some frozen fruit and veg, some canned fruit and soups, some extra flour, that sort of thing. Feeling perfectly fine about it; weād eat well for two weeks and unless things progress in a very particular way here, thatās all I feel like we need.
Also! I made progress on our bugout bags!
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Went to one of the big supermarket chains and already, so many empty shelves! We werenāt buying any of the things sold out except flour (which Iām going to drop past our bulk store today) but no tissues, toilet paper, hand sanitiser/pump soap, panadol, flour, rice, lots of canned veg gone etc. Iām a bit surprised it was so drastic so soon but we got a few things for the stash and Iāll just keep chipping away over the next few weeks.
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Now I want to visit a supermarket just to gawk.
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Do it! It was a little bit surreal!
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I went grocery shopping this afternoon and yep. Lots of empty shelves; lots of hastily rearranged shelves to try and cover up what was missing.
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So, I donāt get the flour thing. Admittedly, for shelf stability Itās a good idea to stock up on it, but the vast majority of people have no idea what to do with flour anymore. And they are not going to have yeast or even baking powder on hand. Weāre not talking homesteaders here- these are the same people buying all the disposable disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer but leaving the stores well stocked on soap and bleach.
The panic, it is inconsistent.
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It did strike me as a bit strange too. Plenty of bar soap left though!
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But it seems fairly consistent across different areas. I saw it Saturday.
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Yeah, same. I wanted to get some pre packaged stuff because Iām working a 16+ hour day today with no restaurants nearbyā¦ Rice and beans and boxed broths were pretty emptied out, but the frozen section was completely full, including the veggies. Not what I would call comprehensive planning, personally, but very little of this is rational, so.
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Possibly they are picturing post apocalyptic movies when theyāre shopping?
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Intermountain west here checking in, there is no sign of panic buying here except the soap/hand sanitizer section was less full than it would have otherwise been (but they werenāt cleaned out by any stretch), but no signs anywhere else in the store.
I DO NOT WANT to pre-buy anything, because my whole goal is to eat up everything in my house and not waste anything before I sell and move. This messes up my plan. 
I stocked up on a few things, but only so I wouldnāt have to go to the store so often, and only things I would have bought (and will almost certainly use before May) anyway - essentially doubled up what I typically buy of flour (because I do bake break every week), sugar, butter, potatoes, coffee, tea, toilet paper, carrots, onions, apples, frozen corn and peas, a bit of frozen fruit (for variety), and extra tuna and coconut milk. Oatmeal (which I wasnāt planing on getting yet but likely would have in a few weeks or so). I also got a bit more cheese than I would have, and extra milk and eggs. I got cat food a few weeks ahead of schedule. I bought a small thing of hand soap (NOT anti-bacterial) because I literally ran out about a week ago and have been using dish soap in the kitchen and bar soap in the bathroom (well, I typically use bar soap in the bathroom anyway). The result is that I am bought up staples 2 - 4 weeks ahead of typical, except dairy, I suppose, but thatās it. I am not hoarding ANYTHING. This still might be too much food for me given my short timeline.
My original plan was to just buy small quantities of things from the bulk bins, as needed, but I believe I will not be using bulk bins for the foreseeable future, so that is the only substantive change in my behavior, other than buying a few weeks in advance. I DEFY THE PANIC.
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I finally remembered to get emergency water. I stuffed it in a dead corner cabinet in the kitchen. 2 benefits: keeps things from migrating back and getting lost, and is available in an emergency.
Iām definitely relying on our camping gear as emergency supplies. For anyone that doesnt camp, I highly recommend a water filter (MSR, Katadyn, and Sawyer are brands I have used/own) and a propane stove. Coleman from Target/Walmart is fine and will generally do the trick, apparently even in snowmaggedon (except in Alaska I guess). Now you can convert infected water to clean water, and cook food. Yay! 
Foodwise, my approach is that I wonāt eat like I usually do, and that hunger is the best seasoning (much like backpacking, but without the weight constraint). I donāt often use canned meat, but I usually have some in the pantry (salmon/chicken). (I do go through the stash in like a year or two.) Iām not a big fan of beans outside cowboy caviar, but if thats what there is, I will eat it. We typically bulk buy like 5-6 types of grains, so there is always a reserve of something. Plus this or that noodle purchased for a recipe and not used up. Veggies are a luxury, but we have multivitamins and emergen-C packets and Nuun. And 3 or 4 days freeze dried food it SHTF real goodā¦or we have to grab it and go.
Key documents live in a plastic envelope in a fire-resistant safe. I like the encrypted USB idea, though. I also maybe need to do go bags.
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Iām doing a little extra stocking up now, though I keep more food on hand normally than most people do for emergencies 
. Iām seeing runs on things here, the pharmacy was out of toilet paper, alcohol, and hand sanitizer!
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We now have a thermometer. My temperature is within the normal range for an adult human - which is good because they indicated I should know my baseline.
The instructions indicate I should not wash my thermometer with chemical solvents or thinners.
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Soā¦ No water? One of the most powerful solvents!
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Just noticed we quit talking about this as full-bore emergency hit. A few things I did early on:
- I bought dried elderberries online as things ramped up and we starting making sure we get a bit each day. In another month, I can collect wild elderflowers for us.
- I bought licorice and licorice tea for the bronchiodialating effect. If I get this, I will get pneumonia. I get pneumonia all. the. time.
- I bought some TP (I love Scott tissue as it lasts forever) and made myself an improvised ābidetā with a squirt bottle since bidets were all sold out - this has meant we are still doing fine with the two four-packs of TP I got at the beginning of March.
- I did not buy much flour (one 5-pound bag) and regretted it for many weeks. Finally got 50 pounds online, which is good as we still usually canāt get bread.
- I bought sugar.
- I bought cooking oil. Lots.
- I bought cocoa (crucial to life).
- I bought salt.
- I checked supplies of yeast, baking powder, TVP, spices, and determined them all sufficient for at least the next several months.
- I tried, but failed, to buy dried beans. Still none available. I did buy some rice but should have bought a lot more.
- I tried, but mostly failed, to buy seeds. Am growing some of our preexisting supply of dried beans and some older seeds. Got just a few things through mail order before everything sold out.
For those keeping track at home, yes, I have food security anxiety (is it clinically anxiety when you become actually food insecure?)
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