Imagine you’ve just survived a hurricane and so naturally, you’re hungry. You dodge fallen trees and cars on sidewalks to get to your favorite grocery store. You pile the snacks in your basket and whip out your trusty debit card, only to be told it doesn’t work! That’s fine you think – you’ve got Apple Pay. That doesn’t work either. Maybe they’re Android people. Google Pay? Nope. Venmo? VenNO. This might sound like it will never happen in real life, but it recently happened to very real people after Hurricane Helene hit the east coast.
In parts of Western North Carolina, a major grocery chain called Ingles Markets couldn’t process any electronic forms of payment because of damage caused by the storm. This meant that anyone who didn’t have cash or checks couldn’t buy what they needed! Stores were accepting cash and checks, but their card systems were down, leaving many people scrambling.
Why does this happen? When big storms like hurricanes hit, they can flood roads and buildings, knock down power lines, and damage the systems that let stores process payments from cards. Without electricity or working machines, cards and electronic forms of payment may not work, but cash is always reliable. In a situation like this, you can still go grocery shopping, but only if you have cash money.
Natural disasters can be hard to predict, so it’s important to always have some cash on hand in case one strikes. If you know one is coming, like a hurricane, it should be easier to prepare some cash reserves.
It can take days for places like Ingles Markets time to fix their credit and debit card systems. In the meantime, they encourage customers to bring cash or checks. So next time you’re heading out, think ahead and put a little cash in your pocket, just in case! Having cash on hand means you’re ready for anything—even when things go wrong!
