a personal comment on this stockpiling

I'm not convinced its about flooding.
more likely fear of Russian threats.

Nannan2

We're used to Andy,living in Lancashire- he's always on tv,saying what he wants for 'greater manchester'- which seems to get bigger every week as he includes more smaller towns into that 'greater' blanket.He's a jumped up mayor really.😆

So you’ve either forgotten or are unaware that he was an MP for 16 years and held several ministerial positions in the Blair government.

Juniper1

I'm not convinced its about flooding.
more likely fear of Russian threats.

I agree.
Or even Iran.

No advice from government about where to run to.

I've always got plenty of tins and food in the freezer.
The trouble is, some people will be going mad like they did with the toilet rolls during covid and there will be a shortage of things in the supermarkets.

Nannan2

Graphite- how do we 'keep warm' if power goes out? I dont have a wood burning stove or similar,so what then? Can use blankets i guess.But it wont warm all house up.and i cant afford a calor gas stove.so,dont know really.

I’ve just been into Home Bargains and bought half a dozen packets of these. Cheap as chips.

I think we should take it seriously. Covid showed us how easily normal life can be turned upside down.

Redcar

Has any serious thought been given to those who are barely able to afford to buy food for a week? How are they expected to stock up on extra food, batteries etc?

Well done for mentioning this.
Very valid point

fancythat

Juniper1

I'm not convinced its about flooding.
more likely fear of Russian threats.

I agree.
Or even Iran.

No advice from government about where to run to.

I don't think a military threat is likely just yet. Sabotage, yes, which could mean power cuts, but no need to run anywhere.

Where could people run to in the event of a war? It would be everyone for themselves, as always in wartime.

If the government were really expecting an imminent all-out war, I think we'd be having instructions rather than advice, and there would be evidence of centralised planning. The reserves would have been called up, there would be talk of subscription, and maybe bomb shelters appearing. There would possibly be repatriation of 'enemy aliens', too, and the budget would have been very different. I'm no military expert, obviously, but I don't think it would be business as usual until the bombs started.

I'm pretty sure that this is about predicted weather conditions and a precaution against sabotage that might disrupt the supply of food, water and power.

Perhaps the government should identify exactly what the particular threat is. It would help stop all the guessing and doom spreading.

It’s deliberately generic Dylis. It would however be wonderful if governments had crystal balls to predict whether the next emergency situation would be power outage due to weather or attack, a cyber attack, an actual attack, floods - or whatever, wouldn’t it?

I have a few items put aside but it occurs to me that I no longer have a manual tin opener. S’pose I should get one “before stocks run out”, but it would have to be a lot easier to operate than the ones my parents used to have.

We have an OXO Goodgrips one, and it's great. It leaves a smooth edge round the tin, rather than a sharp one, and is years old, but hasn't blunted.

My experience of spending a lot of time in a rural area overseas is that when it comes to lack of services, water is by far the most worrying because there are only so many buckets of water you can keep by the toilet. There really isn't any point in stockpiling canned or dried food to the extent that I've seen recently because just a few days into not being able to flush your toilet and you won't be feeling well enough to eat, or if you do, you won't want to eat because you'll be afraid of the sewage reaching the rim of the toilet!

Worth having water . Lived on an Orcadian island when the well ran dry and had to drive 3 miles to the pier to get water in 5 gallon drums - it is very heavy and you can’t live without it . I have an empty but there 5 gallon camping container in my attic . We used the washing up or tin bath water to flush the toilet by taking the cistern lid off and pouring it in . Water 💦 is precious !

Where could people run to in the event of a war? It would be everyone for themselves, as always in wartime.

I looked up nuclear I think it was.
Aberystwth I think it was.
Outer Scotland. Type thing.

We have a water butt so we could flush the toilet via a bucket for few days. If we got warning we could fill the bath and then would have some water in reserve.

There would possibly be repatriation of 'enemy aliens', too,

That is an "interesting" line of thought.

I also think, those who could flee abroad, might do so.

CarrotTop
Don't set it all aside and forget it until it's needed or you may get a shock when you look at the use-by dates! ("Four dozen tins of beans and they'll all be past it by next Thursday fortnight!")

Tinned food does not have a 'Use By' date, it has a 'Best Before' date and even many years after the date, providing the can is not damage or rusty, it can still be used although the flavouring may slightly alter.

Why is is 3 days and not 4 or 7 or 10?

It is possible that the shelves would have been cleared.

The reasonable size supermarket I went into today

Bottled water was available, but a lot less stock than normal. Though some new stock had arrived.

Tins - overheard, cant remember the right name, a store assistant who was putting together home deliveries say "at this rate we will have no tins left".

As things stand, the 'just in time' supply chain is still operating, so if they run out of tins, more will arrive.

When that supply chain is broken, though (eg after Brexit, or during Covid) there will be shortages, and when things are short, people start to panic and buy more of whatever it is, so the trouble will start. If people have enough for a while, the authorities will have time to put things right before things run out altogether.

I’ve just come back from my local Morrisons, which was fully stocked, people appeared to be buying just their normal groceries - I suspect so many round me live out in the sticks that they keep a decent store cupboard anyway.

Same here in town centre Urmston no queues in either Sainsbury’s or Aldi and fully stocked shelves even water and loo rolls.

nanna8

I have years and year’s worth of books. Guess I could keep warm and have light by setting fire to them .

Have you read “Fahrenheit 495”? The number is the temperature at which whole books catch fire!🔥. Not such a good idea unless you tear them up.
Having lived in a cyclone prone country, I always have stores…. How many loo rolls do you need, assuming “Armageddon” lasts a week!

I got a Sainsbury's delivery yesterday and it was only Matchmakers that were out of stock, and even then they sent a different flavour.