Last month, we heard about food shortages in India that resulted from a combination of droughts and intense flooding which ruined crops. Last week, El Salvador President Mauricio Funes declared a national emergency due to torrential rains that, among other things, devastated crops in regions across the country. These food-related crises on such a massive scale may be difficult to comprehend when they happen in other corners of the world, but recently the United States also had a taste (no pun intended) of flood-related food shortages.

Yesterday, Kellogg Co. announced a nationwide shortage of Eggo waffles, the longtime breakfast favorite. Their facility in Atlanta was set to open recently, but the Southeastern floods delayed that opening. The company now has to clean the facility all over again, as well as repair damaged equipment. Given the relative mildness of this food crisis compared to the loss of crops in India and El Salvador it can still be hard to compare these examples, but one thing is for certain: floods wreak havoc on our livelihoods and can end up affecting a whole nation.

You can’t prevent them from happening, but you can be prepared for a flood by taking steps in our Flood Safety Checklist.

Related: See how we responded to the Southeastern floods

Filed under: Disaster Response, Preparedness