Sebastien Kamgang has been looking for water since Tuesday. Not long enough, though, to be willing to pay $1.49 a bottle at a Price Choice supermarket near downtown Miami. “That’s ridiculous!” he said, adding that another store he’d been to already was selling small bottles for twice that much. “It’s just crazy how the shelves are going so fast.” He left empty-handed.
Nearby, Joshua Mena was trying to reassure his customers as he unloaded the last cases onto the shelves. “Wait two hours and you can come back with your people,” he shouted. “We’ll have three or four pallets.”
His manager, Tony Medina, was not so optimistic. Medina began ordering all the extra water he could nearly a week ago. “It’s humanly impossible for them to get here,” he said of the three delivery trucks that promised drop-offs before close of business Wednesday. “Especially the warehouses. They’re in the same position we are in, going overboard.”
Similar scenes were unfolding at other supermarkets all over the region, according to shoppers there, many of whom were at their fifth or sixth store. So goes a familiar ritual of hurricane prep: The grocery store is often the last stop before residents batten down the hatches and prepare for bad weather at home.
Emergency management officials recommend a supply of at least a gallon of water per person per day for at least three days.
Until the storm comes, though, it’s worth remembering that you can use your tap water to fill as many containers as you have on hand.
