> In other words most of the US outside of a major metro area.

Not just outside, I spent 15 years in/around Austin and it got to be ridiculous.

2020 - cleared out the stores at covid.. alright, few people were prepared, none had done it before

2021 - cleared out the stores for the blizzard, lost power for 45min and water for 5 days.. almost no one was prepared, despite the year before

2023 - cleared out the stores for the blizzard, lost power for days due to heavy icing.. some were prepared but not at scale

Some people just don't learn.

Luckily after '20, we prepared. Then in '21, we moved to rural Texas and got solar+battery backup so 2023 wasn't even a blip.