LAURINBURG — Some Scotland County businesses are seeing a post-storm boost following Hurricane Matthew.
Those selling gasoline certainly have had not shortage of customers once electrical power was restored to merchants and residents. Long lines of motorists looking to fill-up gas tanks were wrapped around city blocks in Hamlet, McColl, S.C. and Bennettsville S.C. when those nearby town were the only places with available gasoline or electricity.
Since Laurinburg’s power was restored early Monday morning, those same waits for gas have been repeated here.
At some places in Laurinburg, the lines have been 30 to 40 cars deep. City police officers helped direct traffic in and out of some stores selling gas on Tuesday.
“So many people have been diverted off I-95, plus the people that were evacuated out of South Carolina, that’s why you’ve seen all the crazy lines and panic,” said Nic’s Pic Kwik owner Dean Nichols
Along with gas, drivers were purchasing any bread, soda, dairy and beer that were left in stores.
“Some of the vendors, like Pepsi out of Lumberton are having trouble getting out,” said Nichols. “As soon as they get back out on the roads, that will be taken care of. You’ll see some shelves that are a little low, but we should be getting those restocked in the next day or two.”
The meat, dairy, and freezer sections of most grocery stores around town were empty after the power outage made the products unsafe to consume.
Carlie C’s off Main Street was waiting for a food shipment, but the delivery truck was stuck in Dunn, North Carolina. The Food Lion store at Scotland Crossing shopping center was also supposed to be getting a shipment of meat and dairy sometime on Tuesday.
“Everything was spoiled and we’re waiting on our truck to get from Dunn but right now they’re trapped,” said Chassidy Brewer, customer service manager. “You don’t want to risk anyone getting sick, so it’s just safer to pitch everything.”
But the short supply did not stop customers from packing the store. Carlie C’s put no limits on the amount of water or other supplies shoppers could purchase.
“We’ve been slammed all day,” Brewer said. “As long as we have it, you can get it.”
Local fast food restaurants reopened this week to excessively long drive-thru lines of people eager for a hot meal.
Waffle House, on U.S. 401, was open during Hurricane Matthew serving what it could cook on the flat-top grill, which is run on gas.
“We were serving a limited menu,” said Les Jones, Waffle House unit manager. “We are running low on stuff, they have a truck coming from Chadburn, which is a problem because you can’t go down I-74 and the seven or eight ways to get around I-74 are closed too. We haven’t had any eggs since Sunday night. I threw away 1,500 eggs and I had to throw away a couple gallons of milk.”
The restaurant was open all day Saturday and Sunday during the hurricane and was one of the only places open, despite not having any power. Waffle House was expecting a dairy delivery on Tuesday, if the truck could find a safe route to get to Laurinburg.
Motorists and residents are reminded that price gouging things like gas, water and essential foods is illegal in North Carolina after a disaster, emergency or abnormal market disruption for critical goods and services is declared by the governor. The state Attorney General imposed the price-gouging law Friday — a day after Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency.
To report price gouging, call the North Carolina Department of Justice at 877-566-7226 or file complaints online at ncdoj.gov.
Amber Hatten can be reached
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