Community Corner

VIDEO: Locals Prep at Hardware Stores, Supermarkets for Hurricane

Shoppers hit the stores in search of supplies.

Smithtown residents have been busy preparing for hurricane Irene, which is expected to hit Long Island sometime on Sunday.

Shoppers at the Commack Home Depot were stocking up on batteries, flashlights, sump pumps and chainsaws. Anyone wanting a generator was out of luck; the store had already sold out.

Miguel Pichardo, a supervisor at Home Depot said the store had gone through much of its stock of batteries and flashlights.

Find out what's happening in Smithtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“We’ve been getting phone calls all night from customers asking for generators,” he said.

According to Pichardo they were expecting more stock on storm supplies to arrive sometime on Friday.

Find out what's happening in Smithtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Janine Gallagher of Huntington was at the store in hopes of picking up a chainsaw.

“We lived through hurricane Gloria and we didn’t have power for a week. Trees came down and we had no chain saws,” she said.

Ace Hardware in Smithtown was out of most major supplies as of Friday morning.

“We are getting an emergency [shipment] with some generators, they’re coming in today later on, and I believe we had an emergency shipment of batteries last night," said Nicole, an assistant manager at the store.

The store was expecting some more supplies later in the day.

“We had a truck that came in today so we’re hoping some supplies are on there as well, other than that we’re pretty much at a moment-to-moment basis.”

Are you one of the lucky ones who found supplies or are you on the hunt for them? Let us know in the comment section below.

Stick with @SmithtownPatch, @CommackPatch, @KingsParkPatch and @HauppaugePatch on Twitter for up-to-the-minute storm updates, and the Smithtown, Commack, Kings Park and Hauppauge Facebook pages.


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