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Date Published: January 27, 2004
Tri-county area on ice
Fear of outages sends residents shopping
Keith Gedamke / The Item
Jeff Maeres looks at the selection of space heaters at Lowe’s in Sumter on Monday afternoon.
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By SHARYN LUCAS-PARKER
Item Senior Staff Writer
sharynp@theitem.com
Area residents hoping to stay warm and out of the dark made their way across ice-glazed roads Monday in search of kerosene heaters, generators and basic survival supplies.
Business at the area hardware stores that remained open Monday was brisk, despite warnings from public safety officials to stay off the highways unless it was absolutely necessary.
“I’m at the cash register now,” said Nicki Washington, a store manager at Lowe’s in Sumter.
Lowe’s customers initially passed up pricier generators in favor of kerosene heaters and containers designed to hold the fuel, but as evening approached, purchased generators as well.
By 3:30 p.m., the store had depleted its stock of generators and had sold at least 35 kerosene heaters.
“If the power goes out, the electric heaters are not going to do them much good,” Washington said.
The store opened at its normal time 7 a.m. and there were plans to close at 9 p.m. unless weather conditions worsened by evening, she said.
At Jared’s Ace Hardware in Bishopville, customers also were buying kerosene heaters as well as rock salt, batteries and flashlights.
Power surges throughout the county left residents worried about being left without heat and lights, said Office Manager April Rembert.
The hardware store opened two hours later than normal and employees who lived several miles away or in rural areas of Lee County were sent home early. The plan was to close two hours earlier than the store’s normal 7 p.m. closing time unless there was a need to stay open later, Rembert said.
“The main reason we are here is to help people, and we want to make sure we don’t leave anybody out,” she said. “If they need something, we want to be here for them.”
Contact Senior Staff Writer Sharyn Lucas-Parker at sharynp@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.
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February 12, 2004
