SAN ANTONIO – The KSAT Weather Authority has made it clear: The upcoming winter weather will not be a massive threatening event in San Antonio.
Despite that, a lot of people have rushed to local grocery stores, emptying some shelves of things like water.
Viewers told KSAT they understand this is not slated to be a big emergency situation, but they have the freeze of 2021 in the back of their minds, and they want to feel prepared.
“I’m a contractor for Favor so I’m a personal shopper,” said Alex Tanguma, who was on his eight H-E-B delivery of the day.
He loaded up a trunk full of drinks and groceries.
“I’ve been seeing people panic. I’ve seen carts full of water, toilet paper, I’ve seen certain shelves empty. And I get it, baby formula for your kids, I get that. But there’s no reason to buy eight packs of Gatorade,” Tanguma said.
Other shoppers, like Ruben Montoya, told KSAT they were just getting a few essentials, “Make sure we have enough fluids, enough food, enough necessities that we needed.”
A mom at H-E-B on Austin Highway was there stocking up for her 10-month-old baby. She, like others, said the bread and water sections were pretty picked over.
She said she wasn’t worried about the weekend, but said, “Just now being a mom I’m like, ‘OK well just in case.’ We don’t want to go out and get stuff this weekend.”
When asked if the Walmart on Austin Highway was busier than usual, shopper Nancy Spruill said, “No, I thought it was the same amount of people. I didn’t see a lot of water or toilet paper gone.”
That’s the bottom line: Some stores were business as usual, but there were some that were not.
A viewer said the Costco at Stone Oak was chaotic Thursday. They said the lines stretched across the store, there were no shopping carts, and they even saw people running to grab items like water.
The whole first row of water was gone, and pallets of paper towels were running low, too.
Viewers said Sam’s Club wasn’t as busy, though some of the drink section was slightly depleted.
“I was here for 2021, I remember the electrical outages, but I’m not panicked. These shelves look empty, but they’re just moving stuff around,” Tanguma said.
The stores sent statements to KSAT saying they have plenty of stock.
H-E-B’s statement said: “All stores are operating normal hours. Our stores are receiving product deliveries, and our dedicated Partners will restock shelves throughout the day, so we can serve our customers with the products they need.”
Walmart’s statement said: “Ahead of the severe winter weather, we’ve been preparing our stores and clubs to help ensure our communities have access to essential items like blankets, batteries, and other cold-weather necessities.”
The main message was to prepare — but not panic.
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