Hurricanes a much bigger natural disasters then you think. Several weeks without power isn't unheard of. The battery that runs your fridge for a day will be dead before the weather clears up enough that it is safe for workers to attempt to restore power.

These disasters are rare though for any one person - a few happen every year, but it will be years between you personally seeing a disaster. That is why generators sell out when there is a storm: even if you have a generator odds are it is rusted and won't work. It is a waste of money to buy a generator before you need it.