Hurricane Helene: Hardware supplies flying off the shelves as Georgians stock up

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — All across the state people are getting ready for Hurricane Helene. People are buying supplies in anticipation of the damage the storm is likely to cause.

Channel 2′s Cobb County Bureau Chief Michelle Newell spoke with an assistant manager at Ace Hardware store where supplies are disappearing as fast they are being put on the shelves.

“We’ve sold out of so many things. As you can see, there’s not a whole lot left,” Jenny Collier said.

“This section right here used to be jam packed full of flashlights. It’s dwindling. We also have a battery section 20% of its normal capacity,” Collier explained.

Customers are rushing to get what they need as Hurricane Helene inches closer.

“We are looking for flashlights. We like this one because it glows at night as well as it floats,” Cain Wickham told Newell.

Wickham is going store-to-store preparing to shelter in place with his family.

“We were just at another store we bought out water. Extra gallons of water. We got mac-n-cheese for the kids, soup,” he said.

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Collier said her store is doing all they can to keep up with the customer demand.

“Diesel batteries, flood barriers. There’s all kind of moisture control. That’s more after the fact but people are rushing in to get them,” she said.

Collier told Channel 2 Action News that customers are mostly concerned about flooding and power outages.

“It has been a mad rush for the past three days,” she said.

“We put in an emergency order, so we will have some more of the flood barriers tomorrow morning.”

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