The National Weather Service is calling for an ice storm, not unlike one that crippled the state in 2002. Home and business owners are on the lookout for rock salt, but they're having trouble finding it.
Eileen Beatty manages Pope True Value Hardware in Durham. She says winter inventory has gotten slim since the last snowstorm.
We don't have anything here. All the salt is gone. Kerosene heaters are gone. Electric heaters are gone. I got two snow shovels left. - Eileen Beatty, Pope True Value Hardware, Durham
“We don't have anything here. All the salt is gone. Kerosene heaters are gone. Electric heaters are gone. I got two snow shovels left... Two saucers and two sleds,” Beatty said. “And that's it.”
Beatty says the Atlanta warehouse redistributed a lot of the rock salt after the last snow storm. She doesn't expect to get any more in, now that the retail season is switching over to spring.
Brink King of King's Red and White Market in Durham says people have been coming to his store to stock up on milk, bread, meat and produce.
He says they’re, “scared of power outages and not being able to get out the next couple of days. So, you know, it's been kind of hectic.”
King says shoppers seem pretty calm about getting provisions, and he's not worried about stock: He expects to replenish his shelves today.
King says he is worried that too much ice could cause power outages.
Forecasters say conditions could be similar to the 2002 ice storm, which knocked out power across the state for days. King's Market lost power after that storm and much of their inventory spoiled.
State safety officials are warning North Carolinians to hunker down once the storm hits.