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Severe cold in Alaska delays food deliveries as stores run out

"HORRIFIC" weather conditions are to blame for delivery delays of perishables, including eggs and milk, stores in Bristol Bay, Alaska.

The village of Togiak had to wait two weeks to receive a bypass mail shipment, which is how most of the groceries arrive. Bypass mail arrives in shrink-wrapped pallets, reported National Public Radio (NPR).

"We have no milk, no eggs, and we have no pop, no potato chips," Togiak Bay Supply owner Tom Lowe was quoted as saying. He said that shipment delays are affecting both his store and the other grocery store in town.

"There's no eggs in either store. I believe the other larger store is out of milk now too. It seems to be affecting the whole general area.?

Iliamna received a shipment of bypass mail on January 4. It had been a week since the last shipment, which was also delayed.

Iliamna Trading Company manager Diana Armstrong said deliveries been sporadic for the last month. To account for the delays, she stocks multiple weeks' worth of non-perishable goods. Before the latest delivery her store was running low on fresh produce.

"We're are out of eggs completely," Ms Armstrong said the day before the delivery. "But I can't order three weeks of eggs at a time like I do a lot of other items."

Both Iliamna and Togiak rely on Everts Air Cargo as their only bypass mail carrier. The company said the delays were due to "horrific weather around the state".

Northern Air Cargo, which delivers bypass mail to Dillingham and King Salmon, has cancelled or not scheduled regular flights to both hubs in the last week.