They would be the last people to score the coveted resource Thursday at the Wilmington retailer off North College Road.
As Hurricane Irma loomed in the Atlantic Thursday with a path looking more and more likely to bring impacts to the Cape Fear region, residents wasted no time getting the essentials even though the monster storm wasn’t forecast to impact the East Coast until early next week.
The store is expecting another shipment of water to arrive Friday morning.
University of North Carolina Wilmington students Haley Moccia, Erin Harp and Ashton Parrish arrived at Costco for a weekly restock on food.
But the rush for water and plenty of experience weathering hurricanes in Emerald Isle for Moccia and Harp inspired the trio to snag two cases.
“Apparently everybody was getting water today so we figured we would too,” Moccia said.
Harp added, looking around at the lines, “I didn’t it expect it to be this busy.” Jim Kohler came with a friend to get five cases of water each, along with battery packs and other essentials.
“I am surprised there is no more water,” Kohler said, having been one of the last to get cases.
The scene at Costco, of barren shelves formerly filled with cases of bottled water, was similar to that of other stores across town.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that changed and we started hearing of some as we head for the weekend, specifically in South Carolina,” Wright said.