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SUPERMARKETS BRACE FOR STORMS

TAMPA, Fla. -- Supermarkets here and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast of Florida saw demand skyrocket for bottled water and canned foods last week as the season's first major storms were approaching.ast of the state."We have a standing plan in place," said Camile Branch-Turley, a spokeswoman for Kash n' Karry. "We're used to hurricanes here in Florida."No Kash n' Karry stores had been shuttered as of

TAMPA, Fla. -- Supermarkets here and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast of Florida saw demand skyrocket for bottled water and canned foods last week as the season's first major storms were approaching.

ast of the state.

"We have a standing plan in place," said Camile Branch-Turley, a spokeswoman for Kash n' Karry. "We're used to hurricanes here in Florida."

No Kash n' Karry stores had been shuttered as of early Thursday, but the company was prepared to close down and evacuate if necessary, Branch-Turley said.

A spokesman for Albertsons said only one of the company's 120 stores in the state was scheduled to close because of evacuations. Bottled water, flashlights, batteries and canned foods were all selling briskly in the affected areas, Shane McEntarfer, an Albertsons spokesman, told SN.

"We're very, very busy," he said. "Bottled water is the main thing customers are buying. As soon as we saw the storms coming, we prepared. We were stocked up, but we'll still sell out of those things."