Austin-area grocery stores see hundreds line up around the block

People are flocking by the hundreds to newly-opened grocery stores around the city after stores limited their hours due to the winter storm.

H-E-B, which adjusted its hours noon-5 p.m. on Tuesday, among other grocery stores saw lines out the doors at most locations. On its website, H-E-B said store hours are subject to change at any time.

People are lining up in the below-freezing temperatures to stock up on food, firewood and other goods with Austin Energy reporting residents may well be without power through Tuesday night, or later.

Later into the day, lines and waits became significantly shorter. At Central Market on 4001 N. Lamar Blvd., around 3 p.m. there were 105 people in line and wait times to get in the store were down to just 15-20 minutes.

Chris Turner and Natasha Szuja had been without power for several hours when they decided to walk to the store to avoid driving on slippery roads. They only waited in line for 15 minutes. The pair said they used up all their food the day before since they hadn't been able to prepare for the outage.

"We're a little chilly—we weren't planning on losing power," Szuja said. "We're just a little nervous about how much longer this is going to go on."

However, those who got to grocery stores later after opening are likely to get a much worse selection of goods with shelves emptying quickly, harkening back to almost a year ago at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most grocery stores have not set their hours for the week due to uncertain weather. Updates on H-E-B store hours can be found here.