There's a law of human nature that says when a hurricane is coming, everyone goes out and buys everything off the supermarket shelves, empties every gas station, and lays in a supply of water adequate to keep niagra going for a month.
I witnessed this today, when my wife asked me to pick up some hamburger and bread and eggs, all of which are usually available from a local market with little fuss. However, at /my/ local market, there were shoppers lined up five or six deep at eleven checkout stands, and I, thinking it an aberration, went to a different store. The scene was repeated, and I realized that most of those in line had filled their shopping carts to the brim with /PERISHABLE/ meat, poultry, eggs, etc.: if they're afraid of a storm, why aren't they afraid of losing their power?
I have my own generator, and enough gasoline to keep it going for a couple of days, so I'm not worried about buying hamburger: even so, I didn't pick up anything that I wouldn't eat within 48 hours or that couldn't withstand a day in an unpowered refrigerator. I /did/ indulge in some discount cans of mushroom soup - funny how the best bargains are to had when everyone is buying something else - but nothing that would be ruined by a day without power.
All of this is neither here nor there as far as telecom, but it led me to wonder if the urge to buy up all the food - or anything else - is likely to be reflected in the telecom world. Is there a way to measure sales of cell phones and to see if they've spiked in the last couple of days?
Bill