Gas stations and grocery stores in Jacksonville are packed with shoppers ahead of the storm

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – 10 minutes

John McGraw and his family braved the incredibly busy Walmart to stock up before the storm.

“We just had to get a few things. So, as expected, it was a madhouse,” McGraw said. “But you know, we were in and out pretty quickly, just a few things.”

Refueling your car and gas cans is also essential before a severe storm. Countless people made their way to the gas station at BJ’s Wholesale to fill up their tanks. For Craig Herr, the 10-minute wait to fill up all of his gas cans was worth it.

“Why pay $3.19 when you can pay $2.86? So, yes, it was worth driving here with this offer,” Herr said.

Many people had the same idea of ​​getting their last minute items before Helene, including Christina Erford. She noticed Walmart was busier than usual on a Wednesday night.

“I was surprised. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Last year around the same time it was a total disaster and I was very upset about being so late, but I got everything I needed,” Erford explained.

Mister says not only is he prepared with fuel, he also has several cases of water.

“I have three, three 40-bottle cases and then another 224, so I just knew hurricane season was coming,” Herr said. “So this time I didn’t want to wait until the last minute.”

We checked at Walmart around 8pm on Wednesday and found there was still plenty of water in stock. Erford says that’s not the only thing she thinks has good inventory.

“They do a really good job of making sure everything is pretty well stocked,” she said. “They had a lot of water in them and also sandwich meat and things like that.”

But McGraw noticed that some shelves were starting to look empty.

“If there are things that need to be gotten, I would definitely get them,” he said. “But I don’t really expect the storm to be that bad here either.”