In preparation for Harvey, Houston gets boozy

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Projected to be a Category 3 hurricane, Harvey is expected to hit the Houston area Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Massive flooding and major power outages could occur this weekend, and it's extremely important to be prepared, says the NWS.

As a result, Houstonians are experiencing city-wide closures and chaos at grocery stores and gas pumps. Naturally, the internet's ablaze with folks who are heeding the advice of professionals and stocking up on the essentials: alcohol.

"It's kind of hectic, chaotic," Louis Tellez, beer and wine specialist for the H-E-B off San Felipe St., said. He arrived at the store at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and he said the business was steady all day. "We're doing the best we can to accommodate shoppers."

The H-E-B off Alabama St. echoed the sentiment.

"It's way, way busier," a beer and wine employee said. "We've always had a little bit smaller area for parking, but this morning, there was no parking to be had. It's as good as a regular Saturday."

So far, Tellez said the most-sold drinks were local, craft beers, with the additional national beers such as Miller High Life and Coors Light. There were some holes on the wine shelves, he said, but those sales were secondary.

For Theresa Hunt, a bartender at Houston's Restaurant, buying beer for the hurricane is the right idea because "it's basically a food group," she said. "People used to live off [beer] when water was often unsafe to drink."

Liquor stores were also no strangers to shoppers. After calling three Spec's locations, whose manager's were unable to speak because they were too busy, Ryan Holder, the manager of the downtown store, simply said, "it's brisk. Busy."

Holder didn't notice an increase in alcohol sales, however. Primarily, his customers were purchasing water, candles, chips, dips and batteries. "We have plenty," he said. "Good day. Come see us."

Regardless, if you're craving hard liquor this weekend, Hunt suggests making a GreyHound, which is vodka and grapefruit juice. "It's light, refreshing and simple. There is a hurricane happening! Ain't no one got time for a complicated, multi-step process."

Hunt says she'll be drinking wine during the storm "and lots of it," and suggests 19 Crimes Cabernet. "It's like a knockoff of the Prisoner from the Orin Swift winery."

#MOOD #HurricaneHarvey 🍺🍻 A post shared by 👻sherrthepilot (@sherrthepilot) on Aug 24, 2017 at 6:21pm PDT

As far as supplies go, Tellez says he doesn't believe his H-E-B will run out of beer and wine soon, but as some products diminish, the stocking will rely on the vendors' deliveries Friday. "It's going to depend on the weather and whether our vendors can get to the store," he said. "There's a delivery tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes.

"I just hope we get minimal rain. I hope we don't experience flooding. I've already been through this once."