Shopping Before Hanna

I snapped this picture tonight when I was out buying a few odds and ends to deal with Hurricane Hanna. You know, the usual: bottles of water, beef jerky and such.

I went to a few stores to get the best deals. Not just because I do a lot of economic stories, but because I’m cheap. The hottest items seem to be bottled water, batteries, flash lights and radios.

Here in West Ashley, Wal-Mart’s bottled water shelves are becoming bare. I watched a stock guy bring out a brand new pallet of water from the back and a flock of people pounce on it.

I spoke with several shoppers who say they are preparing to ride out the storm and they wanted to get supplies before the stores sold out. One woman said she came in just to purchase water for herself, but decided to buy extra for her neighbors when she saw the emptying shelves. The canned goods aren’t moving all that fast.

As I was getting some toiletries for a long next-few-days of work, I noticed that the line at the pharmacy was way longer than usual. I heard people saying they wanted to fill their prescription before the storm or an evacuation order.

The Lowcountry Red Cross reminds that an important item that many people forget when shopping is a manual can opener. All those canned goods are useless without a manual can opener.

I am currently trying to cook up a lot of chicken breasts and cut up some cucumbers. All of my low barb foods will spoil if we lose electricity. I just did my weekly grocery shopping Sunday and I'm fully stocked with food that I've got to cook now. :sigh: