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City workers on the hunt for transistor radios were disappointed on Monday afternoon as retailers had already sold out, while in the suburbs bottled water and batteries were being stripped from supermarket shelves.

Ahead of the possible arrival of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, all three city JB Hi-Fi stores were out of stock, as were Officeworks and Big W.

Empty shelves at Coles Carindale.

A sales assistant at JB Hi-Fi’s Albert Street store suggested ordering online from Amazon, with the caveat that delivery ahead of the cyclone might be difficult.

The Bunnings store in Newstead was currently out of battery-operated radios, although larger and more costly items using charging ports were available.

Residents have been advised to have a battery-operated radio on hand to receive updates should internet and electricity go down during the cyclone.

Premier David Crisafulli urged residents to ensure they had bottled water and batteries on hand, prompting a rush on supermarkets on Sunday and Monday.

Bottled water was nearly sold out at Coles in Westfield Carindale and at Woolworths in Kenmore this morning.