Shoppers stock up on essentials

SWAMPSCOTT – Batteries, bottled water and flashlights are on the lists of shoppers and the order forms of area merchants while Hurricane Irene spins up the coast as the first major storm this hurricane season.”You could run a space station on this thing,” quipped Lynn resident Vinny Gillikin Thursday as he loaded an electric generator onto a Home Depot pallet already piled with a gas can and propane tank. “But I have a pregnant wife at home? the last storm we did the same thing, but didn’t use anything. I returned it afterwards.”Local hardware stores reported brisk business and calls for back-up supplies, and bottled water was scarcer than usual from grocer’s shelves while citizens kept an eye on the weather to see if the predicted hurricane would fizzle out or score a direct hit on the region.By mid-morning, Beden Hardware in Lynn reported that many of the commercial customers were coming in to pick up supplies including screws to temporarily board up windows and plastic tarps.The afternoon delivery included supplies such as pumps, batteries for flashlights, plastic and tarps, and duct tape, said Eric Ciccone, co-owner of the store. Another truck was scheduled for this morning with more supplies, all in anticipation of the customer rush to come.”Homeowners tend to go to the large home centers first, and they are prepared for a lot,” Ciccone said. “But when they run out, which they will, that’s when homeowners come here.”Meanwhile, the weather report was playing in the background.”I think we’ll get it,” Ciccone said. “But that’s why we built Long Island as a storm barrier – if it comes right up the coast like that, as soon as it hits Long Island it should weaken. But we’re on the coastline. The wind isn’t as much an issue as the water backing up in basements. And all the water backing up – it’s not a pleasant experience.”Nor is losing power and being without a stove. At the Home Depot near the border of Swampscott and Salem, Marblehead resident Cherie Shipulski was taking no chances of being in that scenario.”I was shocked that there was propane left,” she said as she left the store. “I already got propane, gas, batteries for all the flashlights. The 25-foot awning – that’s coming in for the summer. I’m now headed to Market Basket for the food to cook meals. The goal is to be proactive.”But other supermarket visitors were less concerned.Jill Dearborn said she forgot to add supplies to her shopping list. But neither she nor her sons Andrew and Henry were too concerned as they loaded their groceries into the car at Stop and Shop in Swampscott.”I think the track of the storm moved,” Dearborn said. “We have some left from the last storm,” she added.Marilyn Yenof said she forgot to pick up the candles on her list when she visited Super Stop & Shop in Swampscott.”Tomorrow I’ll have to get candles in case the lights go out,” she said. But she didn’t seem all too concerned either. She said she remembered a hurricane in 1954 when she had a newborn son that was difficult, but they had much less warning in those days, she recalled. “Let’s hope we don’t get it,” she said.Mahan’s Hardware in Lynn was planning on customers like Yenof.”We’ve not really had big rush yet, but we do have extra lights, a bunch of flashlights, lanterns, oil for the lanterns, batteries,” said Cashier Roberto Santiago. “The storm’s supposed to come in Sunday, people will come in Saturday at the last minute.”To Track Hurricane Irene