With just a few more hours before Bermuda starts to feel the effects of Hurricane Leslie, one of the most in-demand products seems to be anything that will keep phones and other devices charged up.While everyone on the island seems to be preparing their homes or stocking up on food and water to ‘weather’ the storm, many are also looking for ways to stay connected if and/or when the storm hits and the power goes out.The Complete Office saw a rush of people at lunchtime yesterday — all looking for the same thing: solar chargers or portable battery packs they can use to charge up their phones and tablets.“I was actually looking for a solar battery charger and I looked everywhere,” said Stephanie Lee, who said she looked several places before finding a battery-operated charger.“I went to CellOne, Digicel and Audio Visual all on Church Street. The guy in Audio Visual told me The Complete Office might have some, so I went down there and they didn’t have what I was looking for, but they did have the battery powered one. I got two.“There was another lady in the store looking for the same thing I was. So, people are looking for things like that,” Ms Lee said. “They’re anticipating the electricity will go out and they want to be able to communicate at least or to have something to do when the power’s out.”The sales floor supervisor for The Complete Office and its sister store, iClick, told us they’re practically sold out of all types of chargers.“We had solar-powered chargers for phones, back-up batteries for iPhones and USB devices, but we’ve sold out of all of those — there’s not much left,” he said. “If we’re open tomorrow, there are going to be a lot of sad people.”The manager of P-Tech, John Narraway, said they too have seen a rush of customers all week long.“A lot of people are coming in looking for solar chargers and hand crank chargers to charge up their iPhones and BlackBerries, so that seems to be the big thing this time around,” he said.“Clearly everyone’s trying to make sure they’re in communication. They realise that their cell phone battery will only go for so long, so they’re trying to find ways to keep those charged up.”While P-Tech does not have any battery-powered chargers or power packs that can be charged up and used to recharge phone, they do have several solar-powered radios — some that will also charge your phone.“We also have the Eaton Raptor, which is my favourite because it’s like the ultimate survival tool,” he said.The Raptor, which retails for $199, is completely solar powered, but also has a large internal battery that you can plug in and charge up before a hurricane. You can run your cell phone or any USB device off of it, so long as it has power.“With it being solar powered, it’s constantly charging it also has a built in compass, altimeter, barometer, AM/FM and NOAA radio for all the weather,” he said “And most importantly, it has a bottle opener on the side,” he added jokingly.Mr Narraway also had some good advice for those looking to charge iPads if the power is out. He said while some portable chargers may say they charge an iPhone or iPod, most won’t charge an iPad properly.“The challenge with the iPad is that the wattage that it requires is slightly more than a BlackBerry or an iPhone, so most of the chargers are good for iPhones and iPods, but the iPad requires a slightly different output,” he said. “They look the same, but they do have a different power requirement to be compatible.”Anyone looking for an iPad charger needs to look for ‘2000mA’ marked on the box. Mr Narraway said P-Tech carries two types — both run off your car charger.While you may be able to charge up your iPad if the power is out, you still won’t be able to get online. If the power is out, your modem and routers won’t work. But there are options.Digicel offers pre- and postpaid SIM cards that will give you data service if your modem and router go down. They’re also selling Wi-Fi modems that work when the power is out — allowing you to connect up to five devices simultaneously. The batteries on the Wi-Fi modems are rechargeable and it’s estimated they can last up to four hours at full capacity.Digicel marketing director Shane Mora said many of customers are using such services.“During hurricane Igor, our network stayed up and many customers enjoyed the benefit of being able to get online despite their fixed line internet going offline,” he said.The lines at Digicel’s stores were long yesterday as well with most people looking for back-up power.“There has been a lot of interest and demand for our batteries, chargers and especially our Powermat Rechargeable Backup battery which has been selling like hot cakes. I expect these to be sold out at some point Friday,” Mr Mora said.The Powermat Rechargeable Backup Battery sells for $55 and can provide much-needed juice to your iPhone, iPod or any phone that charges with a micro-USB, but not the iPad.A CellOne spokesperson told The Royal Gazette that 96 percent of their network remained operational during hurricane Igor and they “should be in good shape for this one too”.“We ask that our customers be as ready as possible which includes fully charging devices well before the storm arrives, having charged spare batteries on hand and having a car charger,” the spokesperson said. “We also suggest that customers use their phones sparingly in order to conserve battery life for potential emergencies.”“As one customer on Twitter put it yesterday, ‘Less Instagram, Facebook and Twitter … at least while the power is out!”