Hurricane Dorian: Stocking up on supplies in Sarasota

Aug. 30--SARASOTA -- Shopping before a hurricane seems to be a rite of passage for a Floridian. You haven't fully ingratiated yourself into the local culture until you've gone to Publix in search of a case of water only to find a couple lingering bottles of Smartwater.

Well, I guess I'm a real Floridian now because now I, too, have experienced the pre-hurricane shopping fervor in preparation for Dorian.

READ MORE: Complete hurricane coverage

I'll admit it -- I've been getting a little cocky. After living here for almost a year and a half, I had been feeling like I pretty much had this Florida thing down. Park in shady areas, always have a rain jacket handy, don't touch your seat belt when you first get in the car -- see, I'm an expert.

But on Thursday, when I found myself asking Herald-Tribune photographer Dan Wagner questions like "what is the charcoal for?" and "why is everyone looking for sand bags?" I realized I still had a long way to go.

So I went out on Friday morning to stock up on supplies. I always expect near-riot conditions at times like this -- probably because my family is so masochistic that my dad and my sister go to the mall on Black Friday just for a front-row seat to the craziness -- but the reality is never as insane as I imagine it to be.

My first stop, I figured, should be the gas station. I have learned that it's important to have a full tank of gas before a hurricane, so I figured it was probably a good idea to make sure my tank was full. I went to the Sunoco station at U.S. 41 and 10th Street. It was a little before 9 a.m., and it was pretty busy.

Everywhere I've gone over the past two days, the common thread has been that I see people walking out of stores carrying cases of water bottles. The gas station was no exception. There were tons of people walking out of the Sunoco store carrying 24-packs of Aquafina. I filled up my tank -- only $32.85 for about three-quarters of a tank, not bad -- and drove to the only place that made logical sense to visit next -- Publix.

I stopped at the Broadway Promenade Publix just north of the gas station. Florida's Grocery Store has obviously been there and done that with hurricanes before, unlike me, and therefore restrictions have had to be made, like this one: a sign on the door saying that customers are limited to two 24-packs of water or four gallons of water of any type per person.

I'm not sure when they instituted that rule, but by the time I reached the water aisle, the only thing left was Smartwater. I have now learned why they tell you to stock up on supplies before hurricane season begins.

"A lot of people overdo it where they take five or six cases of water, when they could probably take what they need and leave it for others. It's a difficult time. (It's) the same thing with fuel: you've got people evacuating and they're going to use up a lot of the fuel, and it's difficult for tankers to take that many turnarounds to refill those stations," Sarasota County Emergency Management Chief Ed McCrane said at a Friday morning news conference. "So everybody just needs to be patient and do their best to try to get those supplies."

All in all, the Publix trip went pretty well. I got some paper plates and napkins, two loaves of bread, some cashews, Wheat Thins, four cans of Chef Boyardee for $5, pretzels, two cans of Jif peanut butter packaged together for $11.79 and Gatorade. I passed on the charcoal and cases of Twisted Tea and White Claw.

I went back to the gas station to pick up some water before stopping at Walmart, where I bought some AA batteries, some makeup wipes and three of those little pies-in-a-box from The Bakery in three different flavors -- pumpkin, blueberry and pecan. They were 50 cents each and right next to the self check-out line -- well played, Walmart, well-played.

Most of the people I've met in my travels and talked to online about the storm seem to know what they're doing. They've been through this before. But this is all new to me. I've never experienced a hurricane before. Maybe it's because we're not supposed to get hit too badly (knock on wood), but Sarasotans seem to be calmly stocking up ahead of Dorian's arrival.

Even if you think I'm doing a comically bad job of preparing for a hurricane -- or thinking about it too much -- I hope this column at least provided you some entertainment as you cozy up at home and wait for the rain. Stay safe, make sure you have plenty of supplies, but leave enough for everyone, will ya?

Laura Finaldi, the Herald-Tribune's retail and tourism reporter, can be reached at 941-361-4951 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @lauraefinaldi. Join her Sarasota-Manatee Retail News page on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/sarasotamanateeretail.

___

(c)2019 Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla.

Visit Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Fla. at www.heraldtribune.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.