Wind-up radios sell out as shoppers panic at government’s Be Ready campaign

Shoppers have been ‘panic buying’ only days after the government urged Britons to stockpile food, water and other essentials.

Sales of wind-up radios have skyrocketed fivefold in recent days, with seven major models sold out, The Telegraph reported yesterday.

Other gadgets the government has recommended people have to hand in case of an emergency have also flown off the shelves.

Maplin said its torch sales had risen by 284% in the last few days, while sales of its power bank were up 106%.

Video footage also showed queues of customers trying to leave the Asda car park at Colchester’s Turner Rise retail park yesterday.

One shopper described the supermarket as ‘rammed with people panic buying’, leaving the shelves ’empty’.

Some customers were stuck inside the car park for two hours, they told a local Facebook group.

‘We’re stuck in it now, absolutely crazy,’ one user said. ‘If this is because of “stock piling” then people are so stupid.’

Another said she sat inside her car for an hour before ‘abandoning it’ and getting picked up instead.

What is the Be Ready campaign?

The government announced its ‘Be Ready’ campaign on Thursday, a three-year initiative urging households to prepare for potential emergencies.

Said emergencies include, among other things, wartime attacks on British soil, extreme weather like heatwaves, power outages and cyber attacks.

The government’s National Risk Register also names terrorism, nuclear attacks, disruptions to oil, wildfires and a pandemic as other doomsday scenarios officials are wary of.

To prepare, officials are asking people to keep a three-day supply of essentials at home, such as bottled water, tinned food and medications.

Other items to stash include a wind-up radio, a first-aid kit, a power bank, cash and a list of emergency contacts, the Be Ready website says.

‘If you have any extra items, you could consider donating these to others who might not have the means to prepare their own households,’ it adds.

The British Red Cross stresses that the campaign isn’t the government saying Armageddon is going to happen in 72 hours.

‘Instead, it’s about being ready to cope with short-term disruption to everyday services such as electricity, water, communications, transport or access to shops,’ the humanitarian network says.

Doomsday preppers, people wary that a disaster could happen at any moment, gave similar advice to Metro last year.

Dan Goss, who runs the Start Prepping blog, said there are two calamities people can face – the kind you need to stay put and when you need to get out of the house.

‘For certain disasters, you do need to have a certain degree of specialist preparedness that you wouldn’t otherwise need for something else,’ Dan said.

‘But a lot of them, the basics get you by: Food, water and shelter.

‘Even if The Last of Us happens, zombies and a blackout are the same. You don’t have any electricity.

‘A lot of the time, you only need three days or three weeks’ worth of essentials, enough to get by without being able to go to the shops.’

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