NATCHEZ &045; A day after Natchez Mayor Phillip West issued an executive order intended to ease tension in long lines at local gas stations, he amended the policy to allow those seeking gas for generators some leeway.

The new policy allows customers to get up to $100 in gas &045;or about 35 gallons at current prices. The original policy limited customers to a single tank of gas.

There was some confusion about the original order that prompted the change. The policy was not intended to prevent people from getting gas for their generators, West said, but merely to ease tension in long gas lines.

The new policy should be easier for local merchants to enforce, Go-Mart owner Tom Graning said.

&uot;It’s easiest to set a specific number rather than have clerks try to say how much they can get,&uot; he said.

His store had already put a 50-gallon limit into effect for its customers.

&uot;If people just wouldn’t panic there wouldn’t be any problem,&uot; Graning said. &uot;People just need to be patient. There will be gas over the next few days. We’re in a bad situation right now, but everybody is.&uot;

Many convenience stores in Natchez and Concordia Parish were out of gas Thursday afternoon, though local officials stressed that supplies are coming and that local residents should remain patient.

&uot;There is no shortage of milk, bread and gasoline,&uot; Concordia Parish Sheriff Randy Maxwell said. &uot;We just have 10,000 more people than usual. Give us a day or two and we’ll have everything we need.&uot;

Those few gas stations that had fuel appeared to have shorter lines Thursday than earlier in the week.

Church Hill resident Greg Green said the original policy was unfair to those residents that needed gas for generators to power their homes.

&uot;We have to get gas for our generators,&uot; Green said. &uot;Out here we don’t even have water, we have wells. If we don’t have power, we can’t even get water.&uot;