With the ice storm coming, thousands in the metro stocked up on Thursday and Friday.
Kansas Citians stock up on supplies
At the height of the rush, there were barely any open spots in the Sunfresh parking lot in Westport Thursday night.
Despite days of forecasts, it caught many by surprise.
"Everybody had full carts in front of me and I wasn't expecting it," Rick Kinsman, a shopper, said.
Kinsman and scores of shoppers waited nearly an hour in the Sunfresh checkout line that cut through the dairy section.
"Everyone was getting bread and alcohol," Lauren Manion quipped. "Apparently those are the American necessities.
At Strasser hardware store on Southwest Boulevard, they're putting in orders for more generators as workers keep the ice melt coming.
"The best product out there is the calcium chloride. It's effective up until -25 degrees, the cheapest is the rock salt which works up to five degrees," Lucas Orozco, a floor manager at Strasser, said.
On Friday people stocked up on the essentials at Hy-Vee off of State Line Road and 76th. Team members who were working said bread, dairy, and produce had to be constantly refilled to keep up with the demand.
"I lived in California for 50 years so I am not sure what to expect and it's a little bit uncomfortable,” said Jeanne Martin who now lives in Kansas City.
KCI Airport prepares for ice
Once the storm begins at Kansas City International Airport, airlines are responsible for deicing their planes, which is an orchestrated effort.
"So when they start deicing they know that as soon as they finish they can get to the runway and take off," said Melissa Cooper, the field maintenance manager at KCI Airport.
The 2002 ice storm went down in the record books, and it taught KCP&L some lessons like tree trimming year-round.
During this weekend's storm their operations will incorporate many of their employees.
"So we can have lawyers and accountants that will go out into the field and assess the damage and report back. Everybody has a different role so that kind of gets everyone involved in the company to get those lights back on," Rebecca Galati, a KCP&L spokesperson, said.
She added that the electric company is working closely with the Chiefs ahead of Sunday's game. They plan to have crews on standby at Arrowhead Stadium in case the power goes out.
If your power goes you can report it to KCP&L here: http://www.kcpl.com/outages-and-weather/report-a-power-outage
National Weather Service ready for work
While others stay inside, people working for the National Weather Service in Pleasant Hill will be working throughout the weekend. They are expecting this ice storm to bring more ice than what people are usually used to.
"That we have had in recent pasts that’s true, we've haven’t had a real significant ice storm since 2008,” said meteorologist in charge of Pleasant Hill NWS office Julie Adolphson.
Adolphson said predicting the timing can be hard with this storm, so prepare early.
"Timing in these things can be rather tricky, and so it's better to be over prepared,” said Adolphson.
Others who have been through ice storms in the past remember it clearly, which is why they came to the grocery store to prepare and encourage others to do the same
"Make sure you've got enough food and water for a while because I do remember 15 years ago we did end up having to go to a hotel after a couple of days of in the living room by the gas fire, candle light and hot showers,” said Denton Sanders of Kansas City.
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Andres Gutierrez can be reached at andres.gutierrez@kshb.com
Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com
