Nassau County residents are stocking up for Hurricane Irene, and not much is left.
At least, that's the case at Home Depot in East Meadow, where Assistant Manager Vincent Montamarano says customers have bought up items in fear of the storm, which is slated to hit the area late Saturday night.
"Flashlights and generators are the biggest things," Montamarano said. "People are taking this very seriously."
Other hot items that have been flying off the shelves at Home Depot are rain spouts, water deflectors, plastic tarps, sandbags and plywood. Home Depot was also featuring a three-day emergency pack, but as of 4 p.m. Thursday, only one remained one the shelf.
"Customers are buying items as soon as they arrive at the stores," Montamarano said. "Our emergency response team is working around the clock to replenish supplies."
There are trucks en route to replenish supplies in Nassau County, although Montamarano says that they may share between locations.
"For example, if two trucks go to Jericho and Copiague, they may have to disperse items to other locations," he said.
Montamarano said that Home Depot officials are urging consumers to pick up gas cans and their five-gallon jugs of water "in case anything goes wrong with the water system." There are also sump pumps available for purchase.
"The phones are ringing off the hook," Montamarano said. "People keep on coming in and asking for materials, but we can't sell what we don't have."
