What are your Immediate actions on......?

[bulldogeagle]

To supermarket or not?

Depends on the emergency. If power were 'off' / computers 'down' then supermarkets would be closed - tills/card links wouldn't work. .

this is where an "emergency stash fund" of cash would come in handy, but dont get mugged on the way home by people who only have cards!

[maddriver]

I'd bet theres an emergency stash of manual card machines in the back office for a grid down situation. A power outage may be a bigger problem - no scanning at the till and no prices marked means the till operators can't process transactions, not to mention it'd get too dark to let customers in store.

I wouldn't be surprised if they had some kind of backup power - why let a power outage interfere with profits?

[Moony]

I'd bet theres an emergency stash of manual card machines in the back office for a grid down situation. A power outage may be a bigger problem - no scanning at the till and no prices marked means the till operators can't process transactions, not to mention it'd get too dark to let customers in store.

I wouldn't be surprised if they had some kind of backup power - why let a power outage interfere with profits?

Nope most modern supermarkets have no back-up systems whatsoever (some have backup only for freezer sections, not tills). From my own experience if you are actually at the till when the power goes down a supervisor comes along and with the customer makes a guess how much your stuff will cost and will take cash to finish your transaction. Anyone else just has to leave the trolley where it is and leave. Even a short power cut can cost a large supermarket £100,000's in lost custom and literally tons of spoiled food.

[triffid]

No electricity would mean fire alarms etc running on battery backup & emergency lighting only and I suspect supermarkets' insurance would demand that they just try & get everyone out ASAP. And remember panic, would also take hold of supermarket staff! Is someone on minimum wage (no wage, if on 'work experience' eg formerly Tesco ) going to stay behind & defend the store? Dream on! Supermarket staff are human like the rest of us - they would close the store AQAFPossible and get home to their loved ones (with a car load of 'staff purchases'). Wouldn't you?

[bulldogeagle]

best to go back AFTER everyone has cleared out then and best of all you wont have to pay for any of it

[TimeisoftheEssence]

No electricity would mean fire alarms etc running on battery backup & emergency lighting only and I suspect supermarkets' insurance would demand that they just try & get everyone out ASAP. And remember panic, would also take hold of supermarket staff! Is someone on minimum wage (no wage, if on 'work experience' eg formerly Tesco ) going to stay behind & defend the store? Dream on! Supermarket staff are human like the rest of us - they would close the store AQAFPossible and get home to their loved ones (with a car load of 'staff purchases'). Wouldn't you?

Yep Any supermarket staff who are aware or preppers, will most certainly go "shopping" while cameras etc. are down but:

You have to realise 80-90% of people won't think "this is it" and they will think
1) Minor interruption
2) Govt aid is only round the corner
3) Jesus or someone is coming to save them
4) etc
5) etc
6) Society will return back to the "normality" , taps will run again, lights will come on again
7) The state would never intentionally deliberately manufacture such a crisis to bring down the growing awareness and vigilance of the population

Only 10 or 15% will really understand that the "disruption" could be in for the long haul, and could soon become the new norm

And only 10 or 15% of those you'd class as "aware" are even preppers

And only 10 or 15% of those you'd class as "preppers" are even ready

I'm so far from ready, it's UNREAL

Anyone else getting that sense of urgency like time is running short?
Real short, I have about a weeks worth of canned food and drinks and I'm stuck in the city. I know I know, big no no , there's no way I can move though. The strength we do have, is numbers, and one of my mates also owns a hunting knife/air rifle shop, so we can get all our friends and family together, and 30-40-50 of us can all be armed and protect the neighbourhood businesses/families etc. against gangs and looters I guess you can't have the best of both worlds can you........

[bulldogeagle]

No electricity would mean fire alarms etc running on battery backup & emergency lighting only and I suspect supermarkets' insurance would demand that they just try & get everyone out ASAP. And remember panic, would also take hold of supermarket staff! Is someone on minimum wage (no wage, if on 'work experience' eg formerly Tesco ) going to stay behind & defend the store? Dream on! Supermarket staff are human like the rest of us - they would close the store AQAFPossible and get home to their loved ones (with a car load of 'staff purchases'). Wouldn't you?

Yep Any supermarket staff who are aware or preppers, will most certainly go "shopping" while cameras etc. are down but:

You have to realise 80-90% of people won't think "this is it" and they will think
1) Minor interruption
2) Govt aid is only round the corner
3) Jesus or someone is coming to save them
4) etc
5) etc
6) Society will return back to the "normality" , taps will run again, lights will come on again
7) The state would never intentionally deliberately manufacture such a crisis to bring down the growing awareness and vigilance of the population

Only 10 or 15% will really understand that the "disruption" could be in for the long haul, and could soon become the new norm

And only 10 or 15% of those you'd class as "aware" are even preppers

And only 10 or 15% of those you'd class as "preppers" are even ready

I'm so far from ready, it's UNREAL

Anyone else getting that sense of urgency like time is running short?
Real short, I have about a weeks worth of canned food and drinks and I'm stuck in the city. I know I know, big no no , there's no way I can move though. The strength we do have, is numbers, and one of my mates also owns a hunting knife/air rifle shop, so we can get all our friends and family together, and 30-40-50 of us can all be armed and protect the neighbourhood businesses/families etc. against gangs and looters I guess you can't have the best of both worlds can you........

i just know i'll get shot down for this but, i would rather be alone where i am than be with 50 mates in a city

[diamond lil]

Tins are no use - get soup mix and dry goods like porridge and rice and pasta!

[pseudonym]

Tins are no use - get soup mix and dry goods like porridge and rice and pasta!

Tins are a great supplement, especially if water is tight.

[nickdutch]

Is there extreme urgency?
Yes and no.
Yes there will, as oil runs low, be more power problems, the economy is SNFAU and may get worse until the economy is completely reinvented to allow for growth and to reduce the likelihood of a major corporate buyout of the human soul and there is a 12 % chance that a solar flair might destroy the internet within 10 years. Food prices are rising very high, the ability to earn food money is getting harder, farming is more risky thanks to global warming and the government are spying on us. On top of that we have increased risk of flooding, drought, pandemic, nuclear war, unemployment, social unrest and the likelihood of zombies taking over suburbia are getting higher every day.

But don't beat yourself up over it!

The best that I can do is the bet that I can do and yes I am a person who likes to research new possibilities for survival, but I know that all I can do is whatever I can do and I cant do everything.

Managing my expectations and expectations of self are important too.