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MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. Richad Roper could not believe his eyes as he strolled through the A&P Supermarket in Thornwood.
"I've been around this area for 30 years and I've never seen anything like this. It's crazy. People are in full panic mode," Roper said.
The New York City native was in Mount Pleasant on Friday to do survey work for an insurance company he is employed by. Roper was going from store to store in the area and checking the stock of supplies needed for an emergency in the event of a hurricane.
"Every store I've talked to they're freaking out because people are trying to get stuff like water and batteries and they're sold out," Roper said.
Residents in Mount Pleasant took to stores like A&P in masses, clearing out shelves in anticipation of Hurricane Irene, which is set to hit the Westchester area this weekend. By the early afternoon on Friday, the stores' water aisle was almost completely barren and shoppers were forced to look elsewhere.
Melissa Giglio of Hawthorne was at the A&P in search of batteries and flashlights in the event that she and her family lose power over the weekend. However, she hopes that hurricane's bark is worse than its bite.
"I'm hoping that the news coverage and everything just scares people into being prepared for the worst and it ends up not being too bad, but who knows. We'll see," Giglio said
The National Weather Service is calling for Irene to hit the greater New York City area by Saturday night and extend throughout the day on Sunday.
Danielle Greco of Elmsford was not so optimistic about the weekend forecasts.
"I feel like we're definitely going to lose power at some point, and my basement always floods so I'm sure that will happen also," Greco said.
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