Power failures destroyed groceries' perishables, and winds blocked deliveries of replacements. But the shortages are temporary.
By HELEN HUNTLEY
Published September 9, 2004
Milk, eggs and other perishables remained in short supply Wednesday as grocery stores labored to restock shelves in the wake of Hurricane Frances.
The temporary shortage is the result of distribution delays and a surge in demand.
"We don't anticipate any long-term shortages," Publix Super Markets spokeswoman Maria Rodamis said. "Trucks are beginning to come back in the state from out-of-state vendors, and we're getting our trucks back on their regular delivery schedule."
Publix and many other companies pull delivery trucks off the road when winds hit 40 mph, which they did for much of Monday, even after the storm had moved offshore. High winds are particularly dangerous for big trailers.
While winds disrupted delivery, power outages created artificial shortages. Many grocery stores were forced to dump food for safety reasons after the power failed and temperatures rose in frozen and refrigerated food cases.
Customers who lost power had the same problem at home. Once power was restored, they went shopping to restock their refrigerators with milk and other perishables.
"People are coming in and buying a lot," said Wal-Mart Stores spokeswoman Sharon Weber. "We're doing our best to keep up with those needs. We had trucks staged ready to go out just as soon as it was possible to travel safely on the road."
Some restaurants have had difficulty getting food from their regular suppliers. One McDonald's restaurant in St. Petersburg was offering a limited menu as a result.
"We have our own distribution center in Tampa, so our stores were in good shape," said Bob Conigliaro, vice president of Caspers Co., the largest McDonald's franchisee in the Tampa Bay area. "Other owner-operators in this market that could not receive deliveries from a Kissimmee distribution center called on us to help them out. We made over 30 deliveries to other operators' locations to help get them through."
