Boston - People fighting for water. Are you prepared? (VIDEO)

**Irish** · 05-04-10, 16:54

In a non-emergency people have swept through these stores like a swarm of locusts. Think of what's going to be happening when a real emergency, either natural or man made, hits your local area. Will you be prepared prior to the chaos or will you be marching off the cliffs with the lemmings. This is just a small reminder of what happens when wide spread panic starts to take hold. VIDEO: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news...81/detail.html

BOSTON -- The run on bottled water caused near panic at some stores throughout the Boston area Saturday night.

At the BJ's in Revere, the crowd got so big and the rush for water so intense that police were called in. In order to maintain control, of an unruly crowd the store was shut down for the night.

Shortly after residents in Boston received an emergency call warning them of the water crisis, supermarket aisles stocked with water were quickly wiped out.

"They are fighting over it, literally fighting over water," said a customer at the Roche Bros. in West Roxbury. "I just had to fight my way through the aisles cause it's crazy in there."

"Not since Blizzard of '78 have I seen something like this," said the store manager. New shipments that arrived were gone within seconds.

Restaurants in Lexington shut down Saturday night when they were unable to wash dishes or serve customers clean water.

In Newton, stores were flooded with residents buying bottled water, WickedLocal/Newton reported.

The shelves of the Walgreens in Newton Centre were flushed clean within half an hour of Mayor Setti Warren announcing the order for the city, said store clerk Natali Tene.

In Quincy, at Roche Bros. on Quincy Avenue, shoppers began streaming into the supermarket after the 6 p.m. news and while bottled water remained on the shelves into the early evening, it was selling fast, Manager Matt Mahoney said. "I'm too busy to talk more right now," he told the Patriot Ledger.

"They are scooping up the bottled water, as well as the beer and wine," he said. "We have some stock up on frozen meals so they wouldn't have to cook."

An Auburndale Star Market ran out of water and requested an emergency shipment. In Coolidge Corner in Brookline, long lines formed at Trader Joe’s, CVS, and Walgreens for any kind of bottled water, including sparkling and pricey designer bottles, the Boston Globe reported.

Jessica Fuentes, a manager at Abe & Louie’s in Boston , told the Boston Herald that the restaurant stopped serving tap water immediately after being notified just before 4:30 p.m.

“We went out and got extra bottled water and disconnected our ice machines,” she said.

Dunkin’ Donuts ordered franchise owners to close if they cannot boil water for ice, coffee or tea.

**Irish** · 05-04-10, 17:01

Another article: http://www.wickedlocal.com/newton/ne...il-water-order

Newton — Stores were flooded with residents buying bottled water in Newton after the state declared a boil water order for 31 communities in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority issued a boil water order to residents of Newton and 30 other customer communities east of Weston Saturday following a major water pipe break in Weston.

The shelves of the Walgreens in Newton Centre were flushed clean within half an hour of Mayor Setti Warren announcing the order for the city, said store clerk Natali Tene.

“I got here at 2 and as soon as people came in, they were just taking it off the shelves,” she said. “Before I knew it they were taking whatever they could. Before we could get it on the sales floor they grabbed it—we couldn’t even get it out of boxes.”

Tene said the store wouldn’t be getting another shipment of water tomorrow, Sunday, May 2, and didn’t know when a new shipment of water would be coming in.

The lack of water could take its toll on the Walk for Hunger volunteers passing through Newton and other cities and towns tomorrow, she said.

Residents Alan and Eva Radding, however, were lucky enough to grab a large case of Poland Spring water bottles before the store shelves were emptied.

“We’ve got tickets to a concert tonight but we noticed CVS had some water left, so we thought maybe we should get some,” said Alan Radding.

The Raddings said they received an e-mail from Mayor Setti Warren’s office as early as 2 p.m. following the announcement by Gov. Deval Patrick, but the reverse 911 calls sent out by the city of Newton never reached the Raddings home phone.

In Brookline, some residents weren’t fortunate enough to walk away with any bottled water when the shelves started to clear at the CVS on Harvard Street.

“We went through a lot of water. Fast,” said Supervisor Rafael Minllety. “There were really long lines for most of the day, and we ran out at about 7 p.m.”

Follow link for rest of story.

News report: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1fZtQFolHQ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_ISlPkjCBc

**Abraxas** · 05-04-10, 18:05

Just what one would expect.

**Irish** · 05-04-10, 20:24

Originally Posted by Abraxas

Just what one would expect.

I expect similar things to happen more frequently and in many more locations. I think people are being naive if they don't see something similar happening in their future.

**6933** · 05-05-10, 09:08

Saw fighting over water while we lived on St. Maarten after Hurricane Lenny. Thank goodness I have streams on our property.

**ICEPICK** · 05-10-10, 22:25

WOW. I need more water.

**Jerm** · 05-10-10, 23:49

Not surprising when you can see soccer moms in fist fights over a Tinkle Me Elmo.

It doesn't take much...

People getting trampled to death over the latest Christmas toy/gadget.

...From personal experience I've learned to never go near a bridal shop during a big sale.

Fighting over a water shortage(however minor) actually seems sane in comparison.

**bkb0000** · 05-11-10, 00:06

"i literally had to fight over water becawwwse is was so crazy in there!"

....and literally fighting over water isn't why it was crazy? how the hell can people be so blind to their own contributions to the collective craziness...?