All we have to do is look back at Sandy. It took a mere 72 hours and people were dumpster diving. Those dumpsters will be picked clean or rotten in a week given any locale and then people with enough strength will be on the move looking for others to pillage.
My personal assumption, it will take approx six weeks “here” to survive the lone wolves as they starve out un-organized. It is the organized parties that follow where good folks will need to band together.
I think a lot of Americans simply do not cook or have food at home. As long as snack shops are open and supplied, these people are just fine and dandy. But, if things go wrong, these people have nothing to fall back on -- nothing in the freezer, nothing in the fridge, no jar of peanut butter in the pantry. It wouldn't even take 72 hours. McDonald's is CLOSED???? Well, where the heck is my next meal coming from?
Note that emergency food trucks (if there were any) handing our beans and rice would NOT be welcomed by these people -- they want the chicken and bacon wrap with ranch dressing and a diet coke -- and make it snappy FEMA guy!
I watched a video documentary last night on what to expect ....and interesting when they got to the part where people would leave the cities once they’d ransacked everything there.
When all was said and done the focus was all about keeping yourself as “invisible’ as possible. Til you reach the destination where you’re going.