Emergency supplies fly off shelves

Bottled water, tinned food and other emergency supplies are flying off Tauranga supermarket shelves as the Christchurch earthquake sends shockwaves through the Bay.
Last month a Bay of Plenty Times survey found that less than a third of people in Tauranga had a survival kit.
But if the ringing of tills is anything to go by, that number will have increased since the 7.1-magnitude quake hit New Zealand's second-largest city a week ago.
At Pak'n Save's Cameron Rd store, sales of bottled water have tripled over the past week.
"We are going through pallets more than we are cartons. There is a continuous flow. A lot more people are aware of it now," said grocery manager Justin Nicholls.
Brookfield New World operations manager Melissa Scott said the supermarket sold an extra pallet of water on Monday alone.
Bunnings Warehouse, at Mount Maunganui, had almost sold out of water containers and, with suppliers prioritising Christchurch, it was uncertain when they would be back in stock.
There had also been a flurry of activity in the gas-cooker, battery, torch and first-aid kit aisles.
"Talking to customers on the floor, they are saying they realise something like this could happen here in Tauranga. It's become more pertinent," Bunnings Warehouse manager Alan Bunce said.
"We are on the fault line. As people are saying, it's not a question of if but when."
Progressive Enterprises, which owns and operates Foodtown, Countdown and Woolworths supermarkets, had also experienced increased sales in survival-kit items, in particular water and pet food.
"Some stores have seen an increase in specific items which could indicate people responding to the earthquake and making sure they are prepared in their homes," said spokeswoman Penny Newbigin.
It was the same right across the country, more so in areas where there were known fault lines, she added.
But while it was good that more people were getting better prepared, she cautioned against panic buying.
Progressive's distribution centre in Christchurch was so badly damaged all the company's goods are now being distributed from Auckland.
"We've got people working on 24-hour shifts to meet all the orders and get them shipped off down the country," Ms Newbigin said.
Some areas, such as Timaru and Invercargill, were not getting regular deliveries because of the increased demand.
Tauranga City Council communication manager Elizabeth Hughes said people had also been seeking information from the council with a jump in hits on its website.
Over the past week there had been 78 visits to the website with the search word "quake" compared with just one the week before.
One of the most important things on the list that many people in Christchurch did not have was a transistor radio, she said.
"A lot of people didn't know where to get information. Having a radio is hugely important."
STREET VIEW - P6