NPR reports that the extremely cold weather in Texas hasn’t just shut down power and water to millions of people in the state. It’s also hammered food supplies.
Customers are sharing pictures on social media of empty grocery shelves across Texas and people desperate to stock up are forming long lines outside food stores.
H-E-B, a major Texas grocery chain which has more than 400 stores in Texas and Mexico, said the “unprecedented weather event in Texas has caused a severe disruption in the food supply chain.
“Like many other Texans are experiencing, this disruption is complicated by power and water outages. For H-E-B, this means temporary impacts to manufacturing, warehousing, store operations, and the daily lives” of employees and their families, the company said.
H-E-B said it was putting a purchase limit on some items and modifying hours temporarily for some locations. “At any time, store hours could be adjusted according to operations ability,” the chain said.
In the meantime, Texans are simply running out of food.
As The Texas Tribune reported, “Across the state, people are using up supplies they had stockpiled and losing more as items start to spoil in dark refrigerators. Some are storing their remaining rations in coolers outside, and trips to the grocery store often do little to replenish pantries.”
