Suppliers prepare regardless of forecast

Many stores find it challenging to prepare for hurricane season. Stock too much and there’s no storm, you’re stuck with excess inventory. Stock too little and a storm hits, well, chaos ensues.

“We try to have a little extra tape, batteries and water, but we don’t stockpile items,” said George Lopez, owner of Lopez Food Store. “That would be dumb. If nothing happened then we’d be stuck with all that merchandise.”

El Clavo Lumber Co., however, is taking no chances for hurricane season.

The store already has a stockpile of lumber. The company is used to moving large quantities of lumber because its biggest clients are builders constantly in need of lumber supply.

“We’re always overstocked,” said Rick Buchholz, owner of El Clavo Lumber. “If a hurricane did hit, we’d have all that lumber ready.”

In addition, the store doubles its supply during hurricane season just in case, Buchholz said.

“We still have the stock from last year,” he said. “It just carries over.”

A major hurricane hasn’t hit Brownsville for several decades, but there is no doubt the area is prone to such storms.

Unlike the frequently affected state of Florida, where storm preparation is a yearly routine, many in Brownsville wonder when the next big one will hit.

Though The Home Depot Inc. doesn’t pre-order in bulk or stack its shelves to prepare of hurricane season, it does push the most pertinent items to the front of the store.

Walking into the Home Depot on 4551 Padre Island Highway you immediately run into generators, trash cans, flashlights and extension cords.

“We get a lot more requests for those materials this time of year,” said Rafael Flores, assistant store manager of the Home Depot on 4551 Padre Island Highway. “We don’t typically order more, but we try to keep pace with de-mand.”

Flores said the store is also prepared to express order items in case a storm is bear-ing down on the area.

“One thing I’ve notices is that people seem to be more concerned about preparation than in the past,” Flores said. “People are definitely being more cautious.”

The change in attitude, according to Flores, is probably the result of major storms that have battered U.S. coastal cities, especially hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

To that end, the store is also doing its part to help prepare citizens for a major storm.

Home Depot will offer hurricane prep clinics in stores throughout the gulf region. The course, called “How to Prepare for a Hurricane Clinic,” will be offered every Saturday in June, starting on June 9.

“We want to be ready,” Flores said.

What things cost:

Generator - $400 to $800

Two way radio - $69.99

First Aid kit - $19.98

Plywood - $11.88

Flashlights - $8 to $25

Extension cords - $9.98 to $25