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Perfect Storm: Hurricane Irma Challenged Grocery Pipeline

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
Survival Bros
/
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Grocery stores up and down the state are still trying to restock shelves a full week after Hurricane Irma.

Many stores delayed reopening after the storm pushed through the state on Sept 10 because they were left without power. Others reopened on backup generators. Many had to throw out most of their perishable food.

Store managers and retail analysts tell the Orlando Sentinel that Irma was the perfect storm to cripple the state's food supply lines. Mark Johnston, a professor who studies retail at Rollins College's graduate school of business, says Irma was about as bad as the state has experienced in terms of damaging infrastructure and clogging roads.

During Irma, Florida's nine largest population centers faced major damage.

Now days later, grocery stores are still working to fully restock.