San Diego County is bracing for missed paychecks and the possibility of a run on food banks as the federal shutdown continues.

As soon as the Federal Government shutdown kicked in early October, the San Diego Food Bank jumped into action, planning food drives and ordering extra supplies.

California has the most service members of any state, with about 213,000 active duty, military and reserve more than half of those 117,000 service members are based in San Diego County, along with 34,000 civilian military employees who would be forced to work without pay during a shutdown, three local Congress members said.

That is up to a big headache for military personnel and their families, many of whom stretch their dollars under normal circumstances and may go without pay if the shutdown continues.

The Trump administration shifted some research funding to pay troops on October 15th, but there's no plan for their next paycheck.

Local groups that support military families are gearing up in case the shutdown stret.. from weeks to months, with grocery prices up because of inflation and tariffs.

Food is a top concern.

Most military families nationwide have less than $3,000 in savings, and 1 in 4 servicemembers struggle to put food on the table.

It's even worse in San Diego, where the inflation rate in July was the highest in the cou.. at 4%, driven by rising costs of food, fuel, health care in cars.

The San Diego Foodbank serves 400,000 people each month, and about 10% of those are military members and their families.

CEO Casey Castillo said that could rise by tens of thousands if the shutdown persists.

Military child development centers based commissaries and health care facilities could also cut services or hours.

The Naval Medical Center San Diego said online that it would provide routine and emergency care, but claims could be delayed during the shutdown.

For CalMatters, I'm Deborah Brennan.