Suppose you DID fill every available container with gas? How many days do you think it would last?
I agree that people should have been prepared, and many people did. My daughter reports that many of her friends, who are not prepper types, DID take the warnings seriously and stocked up. But when you look at the magnitude of the destruction, there is only so much one can do.
And the storm surge was greater than expected and it took out infrastructure there is precious little way of prepping for.
I have no sympathy for the whiners who did not prep, but many people did and are still suffering.
To include them in the blanket condemnation of the unprepared as I have seen far too much of on FR, is unconscionable, IMO. I’m willing to cut them some slack as they have NO control over no gasoline, natural gas being turned off because of risk of fire, sewage everywhere, and no transportation due to flooding.
Gas will last up to three months without going stale. People could watch the storm work its way up the coast. You’re left with two options: either stay and ride it out, or head out of town. Secondly people living in coastal areas for any length of time know about storms coming up the coast and should have an emergency evacuation kit. It’s a gamble of whether to stay or flee. In either case, it’s advanced prep. BTW, as for gas, you can add a chemical which will make it last longer. Problem is people become complacent. They feel everything will work out okay but when it really does happen they run around mad.