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Irma Breaking Intensity, Retail Sales Records

Shoppers in South Florida stock up on ice, water and other emergency supplies, part of a rare, statewide rush to prepare for Hurricane Irma.
Miami Herald
Shoppers in South Florida stock up on ice, water and other emergency supplies, part of a rare, statewide rush to prepare for Hurricane Irma.

Hurricane Irma’s record-breaking fury and uncertain track is sending an unprecedented number of Floridians to grocery stores and gas stations, according to the Florida Retail Federation.

Shoppers in South Florida stock up on ice, water and other emergency supplies, part of a rare, statewide rush to prepare for Hurricane Irma.
Credit Miami Herald
Shoppers in South Florida stock up on ice, water and other emergency supplies, part of a rare, statewide rush to prepare for Hurricane Irma.

Federation spokesman James Miller says shoppers are becoming aware of Irma’s 180 mile-per-hour punch before forecasters can predict landfall with any certainty.

The result, Miller says, is gasoline and bottled water shortages from Pensacola to Key West.

“We know that a Sam’s Club here in Tallahassee got huge shipments of water at 7 a.m. this morning, and from what we understand, they were gone shortly thereafter. So the shipments continue to come in. You’ve just got to be patient.”

Shortly before lunch on Wednesday, the bottled water aisle at a Tallahassee Publix was stripped bare.

Jason Sell, a 27-year-old IT security manager for a state agency, was disappointed but not surprised.

“Yeah, I sorted of expected that because there’s been a lot of chatter at work about where things are and where things are not, so I sort of expected that. But, I’ll keep looking.”

Miller says Florida retailers have disaster plans and supplies continue to roll into the state. He urges shoppers to be patient a nd check delivery schedules.

Copyright 2020 WFSU. To see more, visit WFSU.

Jim Ash is a reporter at WFSU-FM. A Miami native, he is an award-winning journalist with more than 20 years of experience, most of it in print. He has been a member of the Florida Capital Press Corps since 1992.