"I figure that anyone running a generator (like me) will be inundated with requests to store food that is in danger of spoiling ..."

There's no real problem there if you have the room, due to the 'tax' that is applied to the incoming supplies.

Re: heat for many in a blizzard. Last winter or the previous winter, a farm couple with a 1200 sqft home invited 42 stranded motorists into their home during a blizzard. With that many warm bodies in a smallish house, they probably didn't need much additional heat, if any. They might have even needed to crack the windows.

One thing that people tend not to want to do is bunch up when they should, everyone wants YOUR firewood to heat THEIR 3,000 sqft home with two people in it.

The big problem with trying to hold onto your stuff long-term when others want it, is that you have to sleep sometime. Here is where grouping together (if anywhere near feasible) is a benefit.

Most disasters are relatively localized and fairly short-term, so the 'outside world' can eventually get supplies to you.

The really big bugaboo is the one we might be facing now: a possible Depression. This is the one where the S really would HTF, because the disaster is too large and the backup is too small. I am really hoping it doesn't happen, because we are, as a country, in a far worse position now than this country was back in the 30s. Back then, the country was a mass of small farms that could provide local food; today, that isn't even close to being an option, as our food is grown in centralized areas and shipped vast distances. IOW, a nightmare possibly close to coming true.

I am hoping that the media is overstating the problems. I hope.

Sue