Panic buying in Canada’s flood-hit British Columbia empties grocery store shelves
- Empty shelves reminiscent of early days of Covid-19 pandemic
- Military joins rescue efforts, many towns have limited access
Shoppers in Canada’s flood-hit province of British Columbia have emptied grocery shelves following catastrophic flooding, although the shortages are as much down to panic buying as disrupted supply chains, industry associations said.
Even as floodwaters start to recede, some parts of the province were expected to face to temporary shortages of dairy supplies, with retailers and officials calling for calm.
A police car escorted a convoy of four Save-On-Foods delivery vans through a roadblock on Highway 7, which was hit by mudslides during the storm, to reach the stranded town of Hope on Thursday afternoon, according to a Reuters witness.
Canada’s westernmost province declared a state of emergency on Wednesday after a phenomenon known as an “atmospheric river” brought a month’s worth of rain in two days. The rainfall washed out roads and railways, cutting off Vancouver and the lower mainland region from the rest of the country, and blocking access to some towns entirely.
Pictures on social media showed empty shelves and refrigerators in grocery stores, reminiscent of the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, as shoppers scrambled to stock up. Photos of one store’s produce section showed nothing left but lemons, limes and cranberries.
