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Storm preparations pick up in the Coastal Bend as Hurricane Beryl passes through the Caribbean

Residents who remember 'Harvey' and 'Celia' all too well are not taking any chances with this already busy hurricane season.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's still too early to know where Beryl's path will go once it enters the Gulf, but folks here in the Coastal Bend are already preparing for what has become a very active start to hurricane season.

Hardware stores across the area are seeing more people come in to stock up on hurricane supplies.

Residents who have lived in the Coastal Bend for a while know preparation is key.

3NEWS found several residents who are not taking any chances.

At Sutherlands in Corpus Christi, resident Leo Gonzalez rolled up to the register with plywood in tow. He is making sure he's ready for the already active hurricane season.

"Mother Nature is going to do what she's going to do and you don't want to be caught unprepared," Gonzalez said.

Another resident, Susan Voorhees, was loading up the back of her vehicle with boards to reinforce her back fence.

"It's June and we have this type of weather, what about in August," Voorhees asked.

She's been through it all before with 2017's Hurricane Harvey and knows the drill.

"Any kind of wind they're going to blow down, so I'm preparing now," she said.

In Aransas Pass, the McCoy's Building Supply is also seeing an increase of customers from surrounding areas including Rockport, Gregory, Portland and Ingleside. 

Store Manager Chris Anderson has a section in the store set up specifically for storm preps where customers are grabbing everything from batteries to sandbags and even generators.

The most popular item, storm panel screws.

"Try to be prepared," Anderson said. "We have an emergency action plan in place if anything is rolling in our direction, we'll have plenty of material available."  

He gave 3NEWS a demonstration on how to use PLYLOX clips.

"They just clip into the side of your plywood, from there just press your plywood into place," Anderson said.

Outside, Rogelio Cruz from Gregory was loading up the back of his truck with plywood.

"I remember Celia, that was a bad one," Cruz said. "You can never be too prepared, you have to think ahead."

It's that early initiative that is important Anderson said so folks aren't left rushing in the hours leading up to a storm.

"Don't wait until the last minute so that way you're not having to go through the lines, but also taking what you need and not more than what you need, so its not affecting everyone else," he said. "We want to be able to help each other out in that situation."

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