Supermarket chains continued to urge calm Thursday as they worked to get shelves in Prince George restocked following the supply chain disruption caused by the massive flooding and mudslides that struck highways leading out of the Lower Mainland this past weekend.
"We are using all of our resources and working closely with local authorities to get product to our stores, including distributing out of our Alberta warehouse, to service as many B.C .stores as possible. All of our Prince George Save-On-Foods stores received deliveries earlier today," Save On's media relations department said in an email to the Citizen.
"We understand that these are uncertain times and we’re asking our customers to maintain normal shopping habits. Our teams are doing their best to keep the shelves full through alternate routes and we encourage everyone to be patient and to be kind to each other and to our team members.
"We thank everyone for being extra patient during this challenging time "
Likewise, Loblaw, which owns Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart, urged customers to take only what they need at this time.
"Our supply chain and store teams are responding to the spikes in volume and getting the most important items back on the shelf as quickly as possible," the company added. "We are also working to set up deliveries to the B.C. Interior from our Alberta distribution centres to ensure we can continue to serve our communities in their time of need."
As of midday Thursday, produce, dairy products, eggs, meat and tissue products ranged from scarce to completely absent at the Save On at Parkwood Shopping Centre while customers appeared to be refraining from loading up their shopping carts.
As of Thursday afternoon, Highway 7, along north bank of the Fraser River where it flows through the Fraser Valley, had been reopened to single-lane alternating traffi, according to DriveBC.
In a teleconference with provincial media, Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Rob Fleming said a link between Highway 7 and Highway 3, closed by a mudslide east of Hope, should be in place by the end of this weekend. Transportation of essential goods and services will be given priority as routes are reopened, he added.
Highway 1 remained closed between Chilliwack and Abbotsford as was Highway 99 between Lillooet and nine kilometres north of Pemberton.
B.C. Liberal interim leader Shirley Bond, meanwhile, said Thursday a slow-to-act NDP government is to blame for the lack of food on supermarket shelves.
"It's a little bit rich for the government yesterday - days after the event unfolded - to be telling people not to hoard. Well, by the time the government actually delivered that message, shelves were bare in many communities across the province," Bond said.
"If the government had done their job, they would've stood up on Monday and said 'we have work under way to ensure that goods are going to arrive in British Columbia.'"
Asked during the government's teleconference if he is willing to appoint an all-party committee to review the province's emergency managerment system, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said the Emergency Program Act is going through the "most important rewrite since it was created back in 1993" and with climate change "very much a focus."
