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Ice everywhere and no rock salt to be found

Homeowners are hard-pressed to find salt amid a shortage.

LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — Supply chain issues may now be affecting your sidewalk.

Shoppers have recently struggled to find rock salt, especially with the added demand brought on by our recent ice storm.

The cleanup from last week's ice storm is still a work in progress.

Newswatch 16 found several Scrantonians Monday afternoon still chipping away at the ice leftover from the weekend.

"Scraping the ice is very difficult. I put down Qik Joe, and it gave me a little bit of leeway. But, in the back, where no one walks other than us, it's solid ice," said Steve Corbett. 

Scranton code enforcement rules say homeowners must clear the sidewalks outside their properties within 24 hours of a storm. But, homeowners we talked to say that's been difficult with this storm.

They hope warmer temperatures do their job this week since other methods of melting ice have been hard to come by. 

"I had some salt, but then I went to Riccardo's over there, and they were out," added Jack McMullen.

Newswatch 16 stopped by Riccardo's in Dunmore, too. We were met with empty rock salt shelves. 

"We had 50 of them, and people just came in and bought them within the hour. It was all gone by 8 p.m.," said general manager Lexxus Link.

Link said after that most recent shipment disappeared, she doesn't know when she will get a supply again. On top of the weather, both rock salt and Qik Joe have been difficult to find. 

"Our suppliers don't have any, so we're reaching out to other companies that could potentially get it, but right now, nobody has it," Link added.

So, people will have to rely on elbow grease for now. 

"You know, you're in the northeast, you got to expect this. If not, move south," McMullen said.

Check out WNEP's YouTube page.   

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