The sad part about disasters and the approach of weather that could cause a disaster is a way people act before it happens. With having family that lives in areas across the United States that have to prepare for emergencies on a regular basis I know somethings to anticipate. The main thing like you has said that everyone does run to the store and purchase water cases. Water is a necessity that everyone needs, therefore, stores will increase the price when demand is high. In the demand curve when you have raised the curve will shift right (47). So when you have a change in the demand such as when the hurricane came to Texas, there was a change in supply because of this. There are other ways people can retain water such as freezing it in Ziploc bags, filling the bathtub, filling the sinks, and using any source of storage one may have to put their water in before the disaster occurs. If more people would use smarter techniques to preserve water, then they would not be out as much money on store-bought water.
In the other areas of problems that occur is the boiling notice that they put out for residents. I was not able to find information about the Texas situation, but for Louisana, this was a significant problem. The problems arose when researchers when out and performed a study of how many residents were still doing the boil notice of water (). The conclusion came that resident was not aware of the boil notice when it came into effect and when it was lifted (Ram, Blanton, Klinghoffer, Platek, Piper, …show more content…
K., Blanton, E., Klinghoffer, D., Platek, M., Piper, J., Straif-Bourgeois, S., & ... Mintz, E. D. (2007). Household Water Disinfection in Hurricane-Affected Communities of Louisiana: Implications for Disaster Preparedness for the General Public. American Journal Of Public Health, 97S130-S135.
Thomas, C. R., & Maurice, S. C. (2010). Managerial economics: Foundations of business analysis and strategy (10th ed.). New York: