As winter weather approaches, threatening Northeast Georgia with ice, high winds, sleet and snow, the community is making sure they have gas in their tanks and food in their pantries to make it through the next few days.
But with everyone in the region making sure they have what they need to get through the storm, from water bottles in case water stops running to having plenty of food on hand, shelves are looking bare.
“I’ve never seen it [stock] so empty,” Habersham County local Cooper Rodacker said. “Everything’s gone.”
Rodacker, out shopping with family, was surprised with how busy Walmart in Cornelia was, with shelves around the store that usually included pantry staples, like canned soup, instant noodles, snacks and bread nearly empty.
Cornelia Walmart employees said that it’s been a busy day, and between filling online orders, trying to stock shelves with what grocery items they still have and managing long checkout lines, they’re stretched thin. The employees working into the night will have to manage to get home as road conditions become treacherous.
Zach Armour and Jessica Traylor of Demorest shopped Saturday afternoon for necessities and things to keep them warm during the storm. They’re expecting a power outage at home, Armour saying it’s happened before.
“It’s going to happen,” Armour said. “If it gets bad, it’s going to happen. It always happens in Habersham County.”
With so many residents expecting power outages, it’s not just groceries people are scrambling to get. Area hardware stores are selling out of generators.
“The 60 [generators] I had this morning went super fast,” says Cornelia Lowe’s Store Manager Jeremy Gattis. “I have more coming tonight also.”
Ace Hardware in Cornelia is also expecting a shipment of generators, but Habersham Hardware and Home Center in Clarkesville is sold out and is not expecting another shipment until Monday, according to the clerk who answered the phone when Now Habersham called.
Even with the strong possibility of iced roads, power outages and struggles with shopping, the community seems to still be excited about the potential of snow in Northeast Georgia.
Rodacker says he’s hoping for snow. “I don’t want to go to work Monday,” he says.
Armour and Traylor are excited for the prospect of a snow-covered Habersham, but the ice and all the issues it could bring is something they’re hoping will stay away.
“I like the snow part,” Traylor says. “It’s the ice part I don’t like.”
They encourage their community to stay home and off the roads as the winter weather passes through.
“Stay warm,” Armour says. “And be safe,” Trailer finished.
