The goal of hiding supplies in a warehouse in these situations is to artificially impose scarcity as some here have noted. The important takeaway is that scarcity of essential items makes a population fearful.
Fear makes people easier to manipulate.
This same behavior was on display in Puerto Rico when DJT was president. They tried to make it appear as though Trump was denying resources. Injecting fear in this case made it easier for the propaganda to be swallowed that Trump did a bad job.
To whit, a response from Copilot (ChatGPT4):
The last major hurricane to hit Puerto Rico was Hurricane Maria in September 2017³. At that time, Donald Trump was the President of the United States.
President Trump's response to Hurricane Maria included approving disaster declarations for Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories⁶. He also pledged federal support for the island. However, his administration faced significant criticism for the perceived slow and inadequate response to the crisis⁷. The president highlighted Puerto Rico's existing debt and infrastructure issues, which complicated recovery efforts⁶.
The goal of hiding supplies in a warehouse in these situations is to artificially impose scarcity as some here have noted. The important takeaway is that scarcity of essential items makes a population fearful.
Fear makes people easier to manipulate.
This same behavior was on display in Puerto Rico when DJT was president. They tried to make it appear as though Trump was denying resources. Injecting fear in this case made it easier for the propaganda to be swallowed that Trump did a bad job.
To whit, a response from Copilot (ChatGPT4):
The last major hurricane to hit Puerto Rico was Hurricane Maria in September 2017³. At that time, Donald Trump was the President of the United States.
President Trump's response to Hurricane Maria included approving disaster declarations for Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories⁶. He also pledged federal support for the island. However, his administration faced significant criticism for the perceived slow and inadequate response to the crisis⁷. The president highlighted Puerto Rico's existing debt and infrastructure issues, which complicated recovery efforts⁶.
If I remember correctly - he has also banned stacking certain goods needed to help the people.
I have seen this happened before in other countries. Vietnam and Cambodia come to mind.