UK launches three-year ‘Be Ready’ emergency preparedness campaign
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting announced the start of a three-year “Be Ready” campaign in the United Kingdom, urging households to keep a three-day supply of food, water, batteries and other essentials for floods, power cuts, cyber attacks and similar emergencies. The announcement followed a sharp rise in demand for emergency supplies after Streeting’s earlier warnings, with supermarkets reporting shortages of bottled water, tinned food and batteries, and retailers such as Iceland, Maplin and Robert Dyas noting increased sales of radios, torches and power banks. Toilet-paper manufacturers also said sales jumped more than 30 percent.