Supplies Run Low As Residents Brace For Hurricane
Long lines, empty shelves mark Friday night scramble
Photos
If it weren't for a humid haze hanging over Maple Avenue on Friday night, the sight inside Vienna grocery stores could have easily been mistaken for a rush before a mid-winter blizzard.
Residents flocked to local stores on Friday afternoon and into the evening, clearing shelves early, or, facing long lines after they left work.
Giant Supermarket had every lane open around 6 p.m., though its water supply was already gone. Checkout lines stretched back into toiletry and beauty aisles as other shoppers rushed to toss soda, juice, ice cream and chips into their carts.
Rite Aid had a few stray bottles left on the shelves; Magruders was down to two small stacks of 24-pack bottles. At the back of the 7-11 near Madison High School, a few jugs of water were hidden for customers who stopped in for slurpies, wine and cheese.
Water and packaged foods were the fastest things to fly from shelves, but there were a few fun surprises: Chicken pickings were slim at Giant. Magruders had completely run out of hummus. And at Trader Joes in Fairfax, just three bananas remained on the shelf.
Twitter user Map408psu said the "pickings were slim" at Wegmans in Fairfax, too. According to a store cashier, he said,Friday's revenue target was $800,000. On a normal Friday, it's $450,000.
Whole Foods Market set up a table with batteries and flashlights at the front of the store. After midnight on Saturday, they posted on Facebook they had received another shipment and were fully restocked for its usual 8 a.m. opening.
When asked if he thought the store would receive more water overnight, a manager at Giant let out a tight smile, glancing from the customer service register he had opened with the hope of moving things along.
"Gosh, I hope so," he said.
Follow us as we live blog about the storm Saturday, starting around 11 a.m. and continuing through the day.
In This article
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Magruder's
180 Maple Ave W, Vienna, VA -
7-Eleven
537 Maple Ave W, Vienna, VA -
Whole Foods
143 Maple Avenue E., Vienna, VA -
Wien
9:08 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
People always clamor for eggs, milk, and bread...I guess Nova's emergency food of choice is french toast?
We're more likely to lose power than have a food or water shortage. If you want to go overboard on stockpiling, I'd avoid things that need to be refrigerated...which seems to be the #1 item in most peoples' carts.
Panic and fear, a DC tradition.
KB
9:40 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
You're right Wien. it's not like a blizzard where you might not be able to get out for a few days. If we lose power like we did with Isabel, all the food that everyone bought will have to be thrown out...people in DC are crazy. :)
Rai Arun
9:42 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
I was tired yesterday of looking for light and batteries one shop to another and yer could not get one. I got a light but no batteries! hope not to face power outage.
Wien
9:58 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
Rai, check out convenience stores or pharmacies. Most grocery stores and hardware stores are sold out of everything...but people never remember that places like CVS and Walgreens carry a lot of standard housewares as well, including batteries and propane.
Leslie Perales Loges
11:50 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
I tried to get things that don't need refrigeration. Bread, PB&J, crackers, chips, fruit bars, granola bars, fruit cups, some cookies. Then water, poweraide and vitamin water. I read some great advice somewhere that I'd never thought of. Buy paper/plastic dinnerware so if your power/water goes out you don't have to worry about washing dishes.
I grabbed a bunch of batteries and my flashlights have batteries in them, but I don't have more batteries for a couple of my flashlights. However, I do have an LED lit hula hoop that holds a charge for about six hours and is wicked bright. I have a power converter for my car so I can continue to power and charge things if needed. I doubt any of this will be needed but hey, may as well be prepared.
Ha. I feel like I'm either stocked for a big storm or for a really fun party.
Doug
11:54 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
BJ'swholesale still has tons of batteries on the shelf