Community Corner
Hurricane Essentials Fly Off Shelves
Supplies run low as area residents brace for Hurricane Irene.
As Hurricane Irene looms to the south, area residents are taking precautions and stocking up on essentials like water, flashlights and batteries -- so much so that suppliers are struggling to keep up with the increased demand.
The rush to prepare has been something of a windfall for stores like District Hardware between Georgetown and Foggy Bottom in Washington.
As of about 5:30 p.m. Friday, the hardware store was completely sold out of flashlights, batteries, lanterns, candles, oil lamps, tarps and drop cloths, despite ordering extra items just a day before. Flashlights were in particularly high demand, to the point that the store began selling bike lights to desperate shoppers as an alternative.
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Grocery stores, too, are selling high-demand items in immense quantities. The Rosslyn was nearly out of bottled water Friday afternoon and the Georgetown store ran out mid-day.
If all goes according to plan, these sold-out products will soon be back on the shelves.
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“We try to replenish our stores as quickly as we can,” said Safeway spokesman Craig Muckle. “We have provisions for that.”
“Everybody’s concerned about this thing,” District Hardware owner Neil Conway said about the hurricane. “We were only able to get so much stuff in.”
Not everyone is as concerned as Conway’s clientele. Arlingtonians showed remarkable calm when asked about Hurricane Irene.
“I’m here at the store under duress,” said Kay Hawkins, who was sent to procure supplies by her spouse. “My husband is more concerned than me.”
Still, many expressed apprehension about garage flooding and subsequent car damage, as well as the possibility of a power outage.
“The one thing that does worry me is the way electricity companies just seem to go down,” said Arlington resident Gitu Dave.
Arlington County and the District of Columbia have asked residents to prepare for the worst-case scenario and have three days worth of basic necessities -- water, non-perishable food and medicine, for example -- in case of widespread power outages.