I have been trying to figure it out, too. Do you think it's b/c when there is a hurricane, they tell everyone to drink bottled water to avoid contamination? Since I live in suburban Denver, I'm not too worried about hurricanes...
We stopped at a Costco off of south Santa Fe in Denver on our way to the mountains yesterday. It was not very crowded but the herds had definitely swooped in and bought everything. The meat case was nearly empty, no seafood except for crab legs. I buy the big packs of tp when they put it on sale so did not need it. People were buying those commercial packs of tp like you'd get for a gas station. Desperate. One woman had 4 flats of bottled water in her cart.
I live in tornado country and we just keep a few gallons of fresh water just in case.
When our area got hit a few years back..without power for several days. My kids found out what cold showers are like. LOL!