Basically food and water and material supplies remain the only option in emergency.
Sadly without the means to buy it, you can't have it. Cash is a globally accepted form of payment. You can't argue with that.
Ok, let me answer this with a question... If you need one of these things {food / water / medical supplies} and I gave you the option to pay with cash / Bitcoin / gold / silver or I
trade one item for the other {food for medical supplies} what would you accept for payment? Let's make this interesting and shake things up a bit.
In order of priority, I would accept trading for goods first and then any other precious metals and then cash and lastly Bitcoin... Why? Most people will want to do the same and
there are not a lot of options for people to accept Bitcoin during that time. {The process will just be too much effort, and most would have to deal with other stuff, like grief for
the dead}
Like you said, it depends on the person which kind of payment will he/she receive in times like this. There are options, but it depends on the availability of the option you'll be choosing in times of crisis.
