9 Places Looters Will Attack After The SHTF

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

When the grid goes down, the power shuts off, and it becomes clear that things aren’t going back to normal, you better rush to the stores and buy everything you can as quick as you can (if you're not already prepared). Because when the grid goes down, many people take what they can. 

The protests we saw from the heightened political situation in 2020 will happen across every major city in America (assuming the grid-down disaster is nationwide). Law and order will cease to exist, at least until martial law is enacted (if it even is), and resupplying yourself from stores and shops will be a luxury of the past.

It’s not just the people who are already criminals who will loot and turn to violence. Many ordinary people who are ill-prepared will freak out and become desperate too, and they’ll do anything to keep themselves and their families alive. That’s why once ‘normal’ people could turn into criminals determined to steal everything they can. 

But what places will looters and marauders be targeting in the early hours and days of an SHTF situation? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. 

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Here are the top places looters will attack after the SHTF, in alphabetical order:

Convenience Stores 

Convenience stores, like the small stores that sit outside of gas stations, typically come stocked with snacks, beverages, and other miscellaneous items. What will make them even more of a target is that they’re next to gas stations, which will become major hotspots when the grid goes down. 

Gas Stations 

Speaking of gas stations, fuel like gasoline and diesel will be among the most scarce and most valuable commodities. Long lines to individual gas stations will form as people seek to fill up their vehicles and any gas canisters they have with them, but it won’t take long for order to dissolve and chaos to ensure.

People will start physically attacking one another to get ahead in line while others will be forced to siphon gas from their own cars at gunpoint. 

Grocery Stores

Grocery stores and supermarkets are perhaps the most obvious place that looters will target when the grid goes down. The reason is because most grocery stores contain almost all the everyday essentials we need: food, water, personal hygiene items, electronics, medications, and other everyday items. 

This includes stores like Albertsons, Circle Ks, Costco, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Super One, Trader Joes, Walmart, and Whole Foods Markets. Each will become heavily targeted following a grid-down disaster, and within a very short period of time, the shelves will all be completely stripped.

When the disaster happens, get to a grocery store as soon as possible to buy as much as you can, because within a few hours there will be literally nothing left. However, if you already have plenty of food at home, don't do this as you'll be putting yourself in danger.

Hospitals

Most hospitals come equipped with backup generators so they can remain in operation even after a town’s power grid has gone down. In the event of a true grid-down disaster, hospitals will likely be one of the few places with power and thus will be targeted by people seeking warmth and comfort.

Furthermore, the number of people sustaining illnesses and physical injuries in the early days of an SHTF situation will skyrocket. Where will all of these people be going? That’s right, the hospitals. And when the hospital staff gets overwhelmed, people will start trying to enact their will upon them at gunpoint. In other words, hospitals will hardly be a safe place when the grid goes down.

Pharmacies

Pharmacies are where most medications are held. When a true long-term grid-down disaster strikes, there will be no resupply of essential medications and prescriptions for quite some time.

That’s why looters will target pharmacies to strip them of as much medications as they can. This includes both the pharmacies inside grocery stores and independent chains like CVS Health or Walgreens. 

Private Homes 

Yes, even private homes will become targeted following a grid-down disaster. The reason why is simple: Once all the stores and shops in town have become looted, there won’t be anywhere left for the looters to target—except people’s houses.

And while you may think that most people may not have the courage to literally sneak into or attack other people’s homes, desperate times will create desperate people.

It will start with an increase in the number of nighttime burglaries, followed by daytime burglaries, followed by direct, coordinated attacks on individual homes by gangs of raiders and marauders. This is exactly what happened following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. 

Avoid telling other people about the stockpile you have in your home, keep your supplies hidden if possible, and be ready to defend your home with force if necessary. 

Restaurants

Most restaurants carry a substantial amount of food in their backrooms. That’s why even though restaurants will shut down shortly after disaster has struck, looters will break in and take all the food they can find. 

Sporting Goods Stores

You can bet sporting goods stores will be targeted by looters after the SHTF as well. There’s one very big reason for this: people know sporting goods stores are where all the firearms and ammunition in town are stored. The ammunition shelves, and fishing and camping supplies, will be highly prized as well. 

Warehouses

Warehouses and distribution centers are epicenters of where food and supplies are stored. While you can expect looters and mobs to go after grocery stores and supermarkets first, once those have been stripped barren the warehouses and distribution center will be attacked next. 

Conclusion

In a true grid down disaster, there will be no morals, no law and order, and no safety. The vast majority of people are drastically unprepared for any kind of a disaster with very few provisions stored at home. And once it becomes clear that things won’t be returning to normal for quite some time, people who were once normal and peaceful will turn to desperation.

What’s the solution for you? In theory, it’s simple: Stockpile as much as you can, get to the stores to buy as many supplies as you can before the looters get there, don’t tell anybody about the stockpile of preparations you have at home, and get ready to defend your home and what you have for when the looters start to target private homes. 

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