8 Things Floridians Grab at Publix Before a Hurricane Warning Hits

Think a Florida hurricane run is just water, bread, and D batteries?

Not on the Gulf Coast.

Watch a longtime resident steer through Publix ahead of a storm, and half their cart makes no sense to Americans who live inland until the lights go out.

These are the things Floridians grab at Publix the day a hurricane warning hits.

1. Early Prescription Refills

The Publix pharmacy line stretches long the day a warning goes up, and it isn’t only for cough syrup.

Anyone on a daily prescription knows a storm can kill the power and close pharmacies for days.

So they refill early.

Florida law backs the move, and it’s the part most shoppers don’t know: Once the governor declares a state of emergency, a pharmacist can dispense up to a 30-day supply, even if your refill isn’t due yet.

Bring your prescription numbers so the technician can pull everything in one trip.

Ask at the counter.

The Publix pharmacist can sort it out fast, but supplies run short once the whole neighborhood has the same idea, so beat the rush the day the forecast turns your way.

2. Propane for the Grill

Publix keeps a locked cage of propane tanks out front, and it empties out before half the food inside the store does.

When the power dies, the grill becomes the kitchen.

A gas grill or a camp stove runs on those Blue Rhino exchange tanks, so a full one buys you hot coffee and a real dinner while the block sits dark.

Cook while the neighbors eat cold ravioli, and the difference is one propane tank.

Many Publix stores stock the tanks right by the front doors, so you swap the empty and grab a full one on the way in without a second stop.

Anyone who has sweated through a week without electricity learns to buy the fuel first and the food second.

3. Fried Chicken by the Box

The Publix deli sells fried chicken by the piece, the box, and the tailgate-size bucket, and it moves fast before a storm.

Cold fried chicken needs no stove.

You eat it hot the night the power goes, then straight out of the cooler the next day, and it still tastes like something.

That’s the appeal.

The same deli case holds tenders and sides that keep for a meal or two on ice, so one stop covers dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

Order the big box, and you’ve fed the whole house without touching a burner.

4. Cuban Bread From the Bakery

The Publix bakery bakes Cuban bread and soft country loaves that turn a dark kitchen into a sandwich shop.

Bread is the first bakery shelf to clear.

With a loaf, some deli ham, and a squeeze of mustard, you build lunch and dinner and never flip a switch.

No toaster required.

South Florida shoppers reach for the Cuban loaf out of habit, since it holds up for days and presses into a hot sandwich if the grill is already going.

The plain white loaf disappears just as quickly for peanut butter and jelly, the one meal a kid will eat by candlelight without complaining.

5. Chicken Tender Pub Subs

No pre-storm Publix run feels finished without a stop at the sub counter for a Chicken Tender Pub Sub.

Floridians treat it like a ritual.

The made-to-order sub travels well, keeps in the cooler, and tastes like a normal day in the middle of a very abnormal week.

One familiar lunch resets a strange week.

Shoppers reach for the chicken tender sub first, warm from the fryer and wrapped tight for the ride home.

Order it before the crowd hits the deli, since the sub line snakes down the aisle once the warning lands and everybody wants the same thing.

6. Bags of Ice

Publix stacks bags of ice in a freezer chest near the front doors, and it's often the first thing to vanish.

Ice keeps two things going during an outage: The food in your cooler and the insulin in the door of a dead refrigerator.

Dry ice buys the freezer another day.

Shoppers who have done this before grab a few bags for the cooler and, where the store carries it, a slab of Penguin dry ice to keep the freezer cold longer.

Fill a couple of coolers, and the milk and the medicine ride out a three-day stretch with no lights.

Many Publix stores sell out of ice before the rain even starts, so the regulars off I-75 and US-1 swing by early in the week rather than the morning of.

7. Cases of Bottled Water

Bottled water is the Publix item everyone pictures, and the shelf goes bare early.

When a forecast firms up, some Publix stores start to ration water.

Before Hurricane Ian, one store capped it at two multipacks and four gallon jugs per household a day.

So buy early.

Publix often runs its store-brand water as a buy-one-get-one deal, and Florida has its own rule on those: You have to buy two to get the price.

You can't grab a single case at half off.

Stock more than feels reasonable, since a household drinks through a case quicker than anyone expects once the taps look risky and the fridge is warm.

8. Key Lime Pie

A Publix Key Lime Pie has no business on a storm list, and it lands in the cart anyway.

Hurricane parties are a Florida thing.

When there's nothing to do but wait out the wind, neighbors drift together, somebody brings the pie, and the whole street splits it before a dead refrigerator turns it warm.

No baking, no forks to wash, just a cold slice of green.

The Publix bakery Key Lime Pie is tart, pre-made, and ready to travel across the cul-de-sac.