Cupboards Emptying Quickly in Advance of Hurricane Irene

I just got back last night from Long Beach Island, which had a mandatory evacuation in place as of 8 a.m. today.

Having no food in the house, I set out this morning to stock up on a few things.  I’m not a good panic shopper -- I don’t ever know what to buy “in case of emergency” – so most of my basket load consisted of apples and peanut butter. 

Because of the impending approach of Hurricane Irene, I thought I would stock up on D batteries for my flashlight, although I had a sinking feeling I was a bit late for that. My fears were realized when no D batteries were unavailable at the Upper Montclair Kings as of 7:30 a.m., although the rest of the store was amply stocked. 

I ended up getting batteries at American Royal Hardware in Watchung Plaza 30 minutes later. They had just gotten a new shipment in, however, when I just called them at noon, but were already running low. 

I’m not that worried about batteries.  If the power goes out during the day, we probably won’t need flashlights, and at night, I’m hoping the half-dozen batteries we have for each flashlight will see us through. 

No one really knows what this storm is going to be like.  I’m hoping it’s just one horrific day of rain and then it’s over. 

At the Brookdale ShopRite at 149 Broad St. in Bloomfield, the customer service rep told Patch the supermarket has not yet made a determination on operating hours this weekend.

“Our store has generators that allow us to run if we lose power.”

As far as storm necessities like water and batteries, the customer service rep said they are “not sure what our water supply is right now, but we just got a shipment (of batteries) in, so we’re pretty good on batteries for the moment.”

Meanwhile at the CVS at 331 Broad St. in Bloomfield, the store plans to be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The store reports while there are no D batteries and no flashlights in stock, there is plenty of bottled water.

A store representative said a shipment is to arrive tonight, but South Jersey CVS stores will be stocked first.

At North Center Drugs, 386 N. Broad St. in Bloomfield, as well as Terry Drugs, 1049 N. Broad St. in Bloomfield, the store has no D batteries or flashlights and is not expecting a delivery prior to the hurricane’s arrival.

The same is true at Walgreens, 17 Belleville Ave., in Bloomfield, as the store manager said, “We sold out of D batteries and flashlights this morning and are not expecting a delivery before the storm hits.” She did say, however, the store does have “plenty of bottled water and milk.”