AVON, Ohio – More than 48 hours after severe weather, including four tornadoes, struck northeast Ohio, residents are fighting to keep their families and homes supplied.
Prolonged power outages made it difficult to find things like ice and generators.
“I have no power. My roof was badly damaged by the storm,” said Avon resident Larry McManamon.
I met McManamon at the Avon Lions Club community center, where the city has set up a dumpster for residents to dispose of spoiled food.
“Freezer in the basement … I had a lot of food in there and my refrigerator,” McManamon said. “(I’m) going to get rid of all that stuff.”
He recently learned that power to his home may not be restored until August 14.
“I wish I had a generator. I will definitely invest in one,” McManamon said.
When it comes to finding certain items, waiting is a breeze.
“Oh, it’s been crazy, really crazy. We’re all out of generators,” said Jesse Fisher of ABC Equipment Rental & Sales in Avon.
Fisher said many large supermarkets and neighborhood hardware stores are sold out or have astronomical prices.
Fisher added that shipping delays are also complicating the situation for those trying to order generators online.
“What advice do you give to people who call here and say, ‘Hey, we’re sold out?'” I asked Fisher.
“I told people … and pushed them to other car rental companies,” Fisher said.
Ice is another sought-after product as families want to protect their food, keep medications at the right temperature and keep cool.
While many gas stations and smaller stores are running low on ice, Marc’s locations in Northeast Ohio are well stocked.
“Demand for ice cream is very high right now, so the management team here is staying in touch with the company to ensure orders continue to come in,” said Nick Bosak, Regional Sales Manager at Marc.
Bosak said all of the company’s stores remained open. As of Thursday afternoon, eight of Marc’s locations, including the Avon store, were still running on generator power.
“Every business has different needs and different generator sizes, but they have made major investments to ensure we are ready for times like this,” Bosak said.
The Avon store normally uses one pallet of ice cream a week. Since Tuesday, it has used four.
Avon resident Rob Butrey said the visit to Marc’s put an end to his pointless search.
“I went out once yesterday (Wednesday) and I couldn’t find it (ice cream) anywhere. And I’m not going to keep looking for it. And I got lucky when I went to Marc’s yesterday at 8 o’clock at night to get something else and lo and behold, 40 pounds of ice cream that I’m taking home. So, I got lucky,” Butrey said.
On Thursday morning he came back to get dog food and more ice cream.
“You brought some bags of ice. Now are you going to go home and relax?” I asked Butrey.
He replied, “And drink a few beers.”
Several shoppers said they’ve had the most success using social media to find out which store sells which items and where, so they don’t waste more time and energy than they already do.
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