Hurricane Hilary Sparks California Panic Buying
SAN DIEGO, Ca–As Hurricane Hilary was being downgraded to a category 1 hurricane, an employee at Stater Brothers in the San Diego community of Rancho Penasquitos had just told me that the store was completely out of garlic. “I haven’t seen this since the beginning covid when people rushed to the stores. Yesterday was crazy. […]
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SAN DIEGO, Ca–As Hurricane Hilary was being downgraded to a category 1 hurricane, an employee at Stater Brothers in the San Diego community of Rancho Penasquitos had just told me that the store was completely out of garlic.
“I haven’t seen this since the beginning covid when people rushed to the stores. Yesterday was crazy. We even ran out of water.”
The store’s bread section was greatly depleted. But this time, unlike during covid, the store wasn’t out of toilet paper.
So apparently in the face of a pandemic, there’s a run on toilet paper. And in the face of potentially catastrophic flooding there’s a run on garlic. Yet there wasn’t a run on mouth wash.
Yesterday I went to Home Depot in Poway to get an extra flash light and a lantern. The store was totally out of laterns. “Hey, how about this great work light?” the clerk said. “It’s rechargeable!” (Sold).
Meanwhile, the panic buying isn’t restricted to San Diego. The Daily Express USA:
Grocery stores in California have been emptied by panic buyers preparing to hunker down for Hurricane Hilary – and one resident says “stress in the air” is palpable.
Chisom Okoye, who lives in Los Angeles, said a store she entered was a “madhouse”, with shelves cleared and shoppers “frantically” talking on cell phones about what to buy.
She spoke to Daily Express US as video emerged of catastrophic flooding in Mexico, with towns in the state of Baja California – which borders California – described by one observer as “completely underwater”.
Winds of 70mph have been reported, with one man killed trying to cross a stream in his car.
Expected to hit this afternoon, it would be the state’s first tropical storm in 84 years.
Okoye, 24, said: “It was crazy walking through the aisles of the store. It was a madhouse. I could feel the stress in the air.
“Some people had three to four cases of water bottles in their carts. We kept passing people who were frantically speaking into their phones to their friends and families about what to buy, what not to buy, and where they would be staying.”
She added: “I decided to go to Target to buy a flashlight just in case and they were all sold out. I checked Albertsons, Ralph’s, Home Depot, and they were all gone.”
Newport Beach resident Megan Rappe, 45, told Daily Express US she has witnessed “crowds hoarding” in scenes reminicient of the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020.
“I’ve seen crowds hoarding at the grocery stores. It almost reminds me of the mania in 2020,” she said.
Despite the storm’s weakening there is still a threat of major flooding here in California.
Gotta go. It started to rain and I have to stock up on ketchup, bagels, and hair dye. And I’m bringing my pepper spray for anyone who tries to stop me.
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