We don't panic buy as such - however being a good Boy Scout, well Cub for a while, the "be prepared" motto stuck.
We also constantly face cyclones in FNQ so those of us who have been around for a while tend to build up the grocery shopping list with tinned foods & other staples (pasta, rice, flour, dehydrated veges / meals, powdered milk etc) even the old Spam and tinned corned beef from Aug through to Nov; then run them down from April through to July. Dunny paper as well! You can still enjoy great meals like a good hearty fried rice (rice, reconstituted dehy veges & Spam etc) or corned beef fritters with some good old 'mater sauce etc when the chips are really down. Sadly many are on very tight budgets an do not have the luxury of being able to prepare. We are amused, but also saddened, by the panic buying of perishables when a TC is on our door step!
Being a surveyor who worked in quite remote areas for a couple of decades has honed those skills. :D
I tend to do the same with wood working / turning consumables - always have on hand plenty of sand paper, finishes, commonly used drill bits, spare saw blades, even plenty of PVA & CA glue and CA accelerator to avoid those embarrassing "$hit I've run out" moments at the most inconvenient times! But occasionally the supply interruptions are longer than anticipated - my favourite CA accelerator stocks are almost depleted!! Damn! :(