Residents Clear Out Stores For Hurricane Prep

Residents continued to shop all weekend long to buy last minute items to prepare for possible power outages during Hurricane Sandy.

At the Quick Chek in Hopatcong, store employee Rachel Politte said the convenience store had "record setting" sales with the amount of cash that came in, and the 30,000 gallons of gas they went through. As of 9 p.m. Sunday night, Politte said the store was completely out of regular gas.

She also said the store sold out of water, and is planning on getting more shipments of both water and gas through Sunday night.

"It's been steady, very busy," she said. "A lot of people are very panic-struck."

The store is open 24 hours, and will remain open during the hurricane.

The Stop & Shop in Sparta was still seeing a lot of business at 8 p.m. Sunday night as well, with many last minute shoppers buying all the essentials to last them through the storm.

Sparta resident Sydna Spancake lives in a log cabin in Lake Mohawk, and was buying several gallons of water and non-perishable food items incase of another long power outage that she experienced during Irene.

She said her biggest fear is that the electricity stays on, after having her house seriously flooded during Irene and losing power for over a week when a large tree went down her street on East Shore Trail.

Over at the 3 In 1, owner JB Patel said batteries, water and ice were all sold out as of Sunday, and residents came in all day Saturday and Sunday to buy grocery items.

On Friday, gas cans were sold out at Hopatcong Paints & Hardware, and residents already started to stock up on batteries and flashlights.

Generators were also already sold out on Friday at the Sparta Hardware Store and at Lowe's in Flanders.

Assistant store manager Melissa McCambridge at Lowe's said on Friday that she saw more customers come in than she remembers during Irene.

"I think that people take this storm more seriously due to the effects that Irene had on our area," she said, "so I'm definitely seeing a lot of people running in for items that they may not have before."