Stocking Up for Irene: Village Businesses Struggling to Keep Up With Demand

Supermarket parking lots are flooded with cars and the noise of horns as citizens from around the village make final preparations for Hurricane Irene.

Irene, which is currently spinning our way off the shores of Charleston, South Carolina, is expected to slam our area with heavy rain fall and high winds Saturday night and most of Sunday.

A representative of Sears Hardware just over the border in Midland Park said they'd sold out of generators, sump pumps, virtually all batteries and flashlights by Friday afternoon.

The story was the same at Lowes and Home Depot in Paramus, though all three stores said they expect more deliveries tomorrow. None could pinpoint a time the items would be arriving off the truck. Should homeowners need, there are still materials for boarding up windows available at both Paramus hardware stores. in Ridgewood had no flashlights or "D" batteries, though there were a few AA and AAA left.

 employee George Papas said his store had sold more than 30 generators on Friday.

The store was fresh out of flashlights, many types of batteries, and was awaiting a truck delivering fresh supplies.

According to Papas, reached via telephone just after 5:30 p.m., the shipment had arrived, and the store would be staying open later than 6 p.m. to accomodate the demand.

Gas station lines snaked into village intersections and worried drivers filled tanks–both to their cars and red gasoline canisters throughout the day.

Some grocery stores in Ridgewood were struggling to keep up with demand, while one could not keep up in one notable department. was clear out of water just after 5:00 p.m. on Friday, though employees said a delivery was soon to come. Seltzer, meanwhile, was flying off the shelves.

had limited water and limited customers in how much they could take home – 4 one-gallon jugs and 3 24-oz. bottles were the limit per customer. Employees there too said they couldn't guarantee water would be in high supply on Saturday or Sunday.

Paper towels and toilet paper were hard to find at all three of the supermarkets in town.

, which like Kings had water but did not place limitations on quantity, will be closing on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Kings and Stop & Shop have made no plans to close, managers confirmed.

Glen Rock Patch Editor Joseph Gerace contributed to this article.