I don't understand how people are running out of gas so soon. If they filled their vehicles' gas tanks by Sunday, parked and didn't drive Monday during the storm, how is it by Wednesday everyone seems to have empty gas tanks? Where were they driving the day after the storm that they used up full tanks of gas?
I ran across one story on TV of people using gas from their cars for their generator.
I heard people complaining on Tuesday that they had run out of diapers for their babies. They knew a storm was coming but they didn't stock up? What, they buy only two-days worth of diapers at a time?
I could see it as a money issue. Then again I gave one gal cloth diapers at a baby shower with a running out by accident situation in mind. Her mother (the grandmother) mentioned that they come in handy not just if you get caught without disposables but for burping.
We did without running water and electricity for about a week after Hurricane Hugo. Other people went even longer. We had stocked up on non-perishables, filled the car gas tank, filled the propane tanks for the grill, filled every possible container with tap water, had plenty of pet food, stocked up on cleaning supplies, etc. I even had all the laundry done and house cleaned before the storm since I figured I wouldn't be able to do that after the power went out. Because we were prepared, we were able to go around after the storm helping other people who had more damage.
One benefit we had back then was that most people still had land-line phones. We never lost phone service.
The system wants more than just what I entered inbetween paragraphs!