America presently faces two very troublesome duties at dwelling.
After all, readers have seen the tragic, devastating photographs and movies from North Carolina (and Georgia and Florida and elsewhere).
Whole buildings, whole streets and whole villages have been just about wiped off the map by Cyclone Helen, and from all indications, assist from the authorities has been sluggish to return. (Although that does not cease on a regular basis Individuals from doing what they’ve all the time carried out: serving to.)
Then got here the large port strike that affected a lot of the East Coast and Gulf.
The 2 mixed are wreaking havoc on the economic system and, as you would possibly guess, persons are apprehensive. Very concerningly, we’re seeing claims of panic shopping for popping up on social media.
Costco rush?
Some folks shared what they referred to as panic — or at the very least fear — about shopping for at Costco. Clearly, like something on social media, take this with a grain of salt.
Consumer WillWng11 shared a video exhibiting an enormous line and carts crammed with necessities like water and bathroom paper:
Consumer Chelsarita advised an identical story, her Costco bathroom paper part was fully empty.
For these of you who frequent Costco, you recognize that there’s normally sufficient bathroom paper to provide the British Navy.
This is not the one Costco the place persons are reporting bathroom paper shortages, both:
Trying round, all of it appears to be the identical story:
Native Information 12 in New Jersey experiences that retailer clerks are restocking greater than regular in anticipation of the inflow of consumers:
The difficulty on the port stems from a strike by some 50,000 members of the Worldwide Longshoremen’s Union for larger wages.
The calls for reportedly embody a 77% pay enhance, although a couple of third of union members earn greater than $200,000 a 12 months.
If the union can’t attain an settlement, a strike instantly following a lethal hurricane on the identical coast can be a recipe for catastrophe.
With regards to hurricanes, how a lot assist these folks get is an open query. At the very least one rescue pilot – a former narcotics deputy – reported he was threatened with arrest after rescuing a number of folks in his helicopter.
There is no such thing as a doubt that if the scenario is just not resolved quickly, we’ll face an ideal storm of a humanitarian catastrophe.
