Store shelves left bare ahead of looming winter storm. See photos.
Julia GomezStore shelves have been left bare as over 210 million people across the country remain under winter storm advisories ahead of the looming inclement weather.
A major winter storm, stretching from Texas and Oklahoma all the way to New England, could cause temperatures to dip below freezing, putting people at risk of power outages.
In Chicago, the extreme cold could even cause a phenomenon known as "icequakes" or "frost quakes," which occur when groundwater freezes quickly as temperatures drop, and the frozen soil or rocks suddenly crack.
As people across the country brace for the storm, some grocery store shelves have become picked over or completely bare.
Hersh Shefrin, a professor of behavioral finance at Santa Clara University, told USA TODAY that fear and some peer pressure are what drive people to panic-buy ahead of extreme weather.
"The thing about fear is that it induces us to become excessively pessimistic. So when that emotion becomes dominant, we act as if we are excessively pessimistic, and so we tend to think in terms of extremes," he said.
With stores dealing with the frenzy of fearful shoppers, here are some pictures showing empty and near-empty shelves.
See photos of empty shelves at grocery stores
Contributing: Natalie Neysa Alund and Mary Walrath-Holdridge/ USA TODAY
Julia Gomez is a Trending reporter for USA TODAY and covers popular toys, scientific studies, natural disasters, and trending news. Connect with her on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and TikTok: @juliamariegz, or email her at [email protected].