Another winter storm complicates supply chain issues already hampered by COVID

But an expert tells WRAL your experience can be hit-or-miss.

Deana Lusk with Handy Man Hardware says you might want to come early. She just checked with supplier for her Raleigh store.

"If you want something, come and get it," Lusk said. “The ice melt, they are all out. the sleds, they are all out.”

She still has some in stock. But with the forecast looking the way it does, it could go quick.

Customer traffic was up just before last week’s ice storm. As we have reported, the supply chain is already stretched thin by the pandemic.

“There is a lot of issues going on at the moment worldwide,” said Rob Handfield, a professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at N.C. State University.

“It absolutely makes it worse,” Handfield said.

Snow and ice usually equate to more wrecks on major highways and delays that can last for hours.

We visited a few grocery stores in the area and found the shelves were still full of most supplies – at the moment.

But there other items seemed to be running a bit low.

“If you go to the grocery store, it is weird. you see some things that are there, full shelf. Other areas, completely empty,” Handfield said.

That can make it difficult when you are stocking up before a winter storm. Handfield says people should not panic and approach a trip to the store wind the attitude of getting what you need, but just what you will need.