Alert “06880” reader Ed Paul reports:
I was at the downtown Starbucks tonight (7 p.m.). The place looked like it had been looted. Shelves were empty. Showcase was empty. The usual supply of boxes with things to unload was missing.
I asked the manager if they lost their supplies because of the outage. He said they had power all day, and the lines were out the door most of the day. Now they were down to their last gallon of milk, and were going to be forced to close because of a lack of it.
I asked (maybe with disbelief) why they don’t go to a store and buy extra milk. The manager told me (with more disbelief) that Stop & Shop, Stew’s, Cumberland Farms, Fresh Market and several delis were either closed or had run out of milk, so he literally had nowhere to buy any.
Apparently in a storm, milk is more valuable than gold.
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Meanwhile, further down Main Street, Jimmy Izzo from Crossroads Hardware posted a short item on Facebook: “Had my first storm-related return.” A customer returned some lights, saying, “I didn’t need them.”
Jimmy — who emphasized that 98% of his customers are great — added to his post: “Well, someone sure could have used those lights.”
The comments from Jimmy’s friends were perfect:
- “Did the guy who purchased sprinklers on Saturday return them yet?”
- “I can’t wait to see if people try to return generators.”
- “That reminds me, I need to bring back salt we didn’t use last winter.”
- “Can I bring back my barely used roof rake later today?
- “I’ve got a spare key you made which I haven’t needed.”
Less than 30m away are grocery stores with lots and lots of milk. Are these people truly so insular?
I’ve been noticing the lack of comments responding to Dan’s recent posts and well…guess few Westport folks have Internet service at the moment.
We are dead in the water. No power! Where the hell is CL&P????
You call them and they tell me that their computer says we HAVE power. I call
again and they say that we are low priority because we are the ONLY ones not to have power on your street. I tell them that 15 houses on this street don’t have power. I call back and say they say call back at noon, we will have a schedule of restoration. I call back at 2:00 p.m. and they tell me they have not released the schedule. I tell you they are morons!!! They are part of the problem and NOT the solution.
Please tell Jimmy that the plunger I bought for him did not work. I would like my money back or exchange for a bigger one??
And there you have it! The reason we need more Jimmy Izzo’s and neighborhood shops like his in this country. I bet you anything, he took back the lights with a smile. Well done Jimmy!
Stew Leonards is completely stocked. No need to drive 30 miles. They have ice too.
What’s your opinion on a town as wealthy as Westport pursuing FEMA money as a result of Irene damage?
FEMA has nothing to do with affluence. Write the check!!!
Every town that qualifies should request funds form FEMA, either way, it’s your tax dollars at work. They will pay 75% of our town’s storm related costs.
75% of the town’s storm related costs? I’m sure there is a formula behind that percentage. If anyone knows what that formula is, please post it.
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=53806
If you collect on FEMA and live right on the water, watch out next time!! Cuz they will deny ya.
I wasnt looking for that information; it’s ambiguous. I was looking for a quantitative formula.
Water + damage = FEMA check.
About milk and other essentials that folks cleaned off the shelves in the local supermarkets – I’ll now share a secret: even at the height of the “must get milk” frenzy (Saturday afternoon) the Merritt Country Store – near the Izzo’s hardware store – had plenty of 1%, 2%, whole milk, etc. Have to love the local guys! P.S. If I read one more story on WN on how GJ is communicating via the code red telephone system to those who are wondering when services will be restored – those without power typically have no landline phone in service, and many who do have power don’t have cable (really, what is up with Cablevision?) which is their landline phone service provider.
I signed up for some code red service and it allowed you to input multiple phone numbers, including cell phones.
Agree, we should now consider placing our cell phone numbers in the code red registry. Right after I return my barely-used roof rake to Izzo’s Crossroads Harware store . . .
Please tell AJ to keep his unflattering comments to himself.
Yes, except for some reason I had no AT&T cell phone service either – so I got all my code red messages when I got in to work on Tuesday.
You didn’t miss much except excuses.
Ha! *like*