With Hurricane Sandy expected to hit New York City beginning tonight, residents flocked to hardware stores and supermarkets to stock up on goods to get them though the storm.
Locals lined up dozens deep at area stores for water, batteries and sandbags preparing themselves for the hurricane that is forecasted to bring gusts of winds up 80 mph and multiple inches of rain per hour.
The Fresh Meadows Key Food has seen about 1,000 more shoppers each of the past two days than average, said an assistant manager, though more residents flooded the store last year in the lead up to Hurricane Irene.
The Home Depot in Long Island City has sold out of generators and sandbags and Ace Hardware on Francis Lewis Boulevard is out of batteries.
A designer at the Bay Terrace Waldbaum’s said the shoppers have remained well behaved during the rush that has brought lines usually reserved for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
– Additional reporting from Alexa Altman, Melissa Chan and Toni Cimino
