With supplies blocked, many grocers close
And shoppers are finding long lines at stores that manage to stay open
OLIVIA Deman began hustling days before Hurricane Harvey slammed ashore. She shopped for groceries three days in a row, buying canned goods and produce for stews and sauces to stash in the freezer. By the end of the week, she had prepared enough for herself and her husband.
Then the storm ripped into coastal Texas and soon moved north to terrorize Houston, dumping record amounts of water and sparking evacuations for thousands across the city. By Monday afternoon, Deman had six friends heading to stay at her house in Montrose.
On Monday, she joined a long line at the Kroger on West Gray, one of a limited number of Houston-area grocery stores that managed to open after a second night of torrential rainfall.
Flooded roadways, power outages and evacuations forced many major retail-
ers to again close some or all stores, and leaving residents scrambling to restock provisions as the storm threat continued.
H-E-B, Kroger, Walmart and other big chains began the morning with crisis calls to discuss conditions and where employees and supply trucks could reasonably travel. Stores that opened for business had lines snaking out the doors in a matter of hours.
H-E-B operated dozens of stores in the region until midafternoon. About two dozen people were lined up outside the Montrose location when a manager appeared to deliver bad news to dripping-wet customers approaching from the parking lot. “We’re closed!” he yelled.
Spokeswoman Cyndy Garza-Roberts said the company has dispatched more than 120 trucks to stock area stores in the coming days, and it’s pulling from other distribution centers in the state.
But the drivers are limited in their abilities to skirt flooded highways and find alternate routes to stores, she said.
“They’re facing the same challenges Houstonians are facing,” Garza-Roberts said.
Kroger, too, managed to open dozens of stores throughout the metro area after shutting down entirely on Sunday. Managers stood at the doors Monday, ushering in customers a few at a time as lines continued to grow.
At the store on Telephone Road, Eri Le Jordan waited in line for at least 45 minutes. The Tropicana Village resident had enough provisions for herself, her boyfriend and her daughter, but she sought extra nonperishables, charcoal and meat to feed families who might seek shelter under her roof.
“It’s really difficult to get into our neighborhood once the roads flood, but if anyone in our neighborhood or anyone who can make it in needs somewhere to go I want to be ready to help,” Jordan said.
Spokeswoman Joy Partain said the company will rush to restock locations cleaned out by Monday’s onslaught of customers, though flooded roads have made deliveries difficult. She added that overnight rain could change Tuesday’s store openings as waters rise and recede.
Fiesta Mart opened much of its store chain and attempted to keep normal business hours, weather permitting. At the Midtown store, a line out the door continued to build well into the afternoon.
Jose Simon trekked from his nearby residence in search of fresh food to cook for 10 relatives who had been evacuated from the Sienna Planation subdivision earlier in the day.
“I’ll take whatever meat they have left,” he said.
Walmart opened relatively few stores in the Houston area, restricting its operations efforts to stores north of the city in the suburbs and along evacuation routes.
Spokesman Regan Dickens said the company is working with transportation officials to determine where its trucks can safely deliver food and supplies closer to the city.
“It’s an hour-by-hour situation,” he said.
Restaurants faced similar supply challenges, hindered by flooding and lack of inventory. Jonathan Horowitz, president of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association, said only a few had been able to open in the Heights and other areas spared the worst of the floods.
“It’s going to be bad for a while,” he said. “Getting product to actually make food is going to be nearly impossible.”
Deman, worried trucks wouldn’t be able to supply all of the shelters throughout the area, also sought baby formula and supplies to hand out. She planned to spend Tuesday volunteering. “Someone has to get to the store,” she said.