Shoppers Rush Stores Before Irene Hits

In the middle of a frantic parking lot outside in Doylestown, Irene Kinder laughed about Saturday evening’s impending hurricane.

“It’s my namesake! I’ll finally be getting even with people after 20 years,” she said.

Loading a few gallons of water into her car, she said she’s less worried about having emergency supplies on hand, and more concerned about potential flooding in the basement of her new Bedminster townhome.

“Everyone is in such a tailspin,” she said. “Am I missing something?”

Inside the stores, last minute shoppers were faced with bare shelves as they scrambled to find essentials before the storm.

While most Doylestown grocery stores still were stocked with milk, eggs and bread Saturday, entire pallets of water were wiped clean.

“We went through 17 pallets yesterday,” said a customer service representative at . “We got more in today but we’re running out.”

The at Cross Keys greeted customers with a sign that read, “We are out of: flash lights, C and D batteries and packs of water. Please be safe today!”

Employee Megan Kavanagh said business at the CVS had been nonstop.

“What we usually get in a day is what we’ve had in the past two hours,” she said.

Many shoppers at K-mart packed their carts with buckets and coolers, but found that flashlights, batteries and even candles were sold out.

“They’re even out of ping pong balls!” laughed a frustrated shopper, forced to find alternative plans to wait out the storm.

The Doylestown Acme, Genuardi’s, Giant, CVS and K-mart plan to open for business on Sunday, unless power outages force closure. Extra shipments of emergency supplies are expected.

As the first scattered raindrops began to fall around 3 p.m., drivers cruised past an eerie scene at the in Doylestown Shopping Center, which had boarded up its store windows as a precaution against Irene’s imminent winds and rain.

“They started around 9 a.m. yesterday and took all day to do both stores,” said an employee.

Leaving with a few gallons of milk, Joe Brennan of Doylestown agreed that residents are better off safe than sorry, which is why he said he’s glad to be home from vacation in the Outer Banks, N.C.

“We were evacuated from the Outer Banks last summer for [Hurricane] Earl, which wasn’t too bad, but I think we made the right choice this time.”