NATCHEZ &045; The sign in the window of the Pig Out Inn finishes: &uot;Hope to Have More Food Wed(nesday).&uot;

If Adams County had a sign, it would read the same, only substituting &uot;Power&uot; for food.

Day Two of what could be a prolonged power outage has been bad for everyone. Everyone, that is, except for local restaurants, gas stations and grocery stores, all of which are doing big business in wake of Hurricane Katrina.

&uot;We sold out of food last night, and, if the power comes back on, we’ll sell out tonight,&uot; Bowie’s Tavern manager Lawrence Smith said.

Bowie’s stopped taking food orders at 8:30 p.m. Monday because of the high number of people.

Biscuits and Blues on Main Street said there were lines out the door as soon as the evacuation started.

The Eola Hotel is serving buffet meals in order to accommodate the demand.

Pat McDaniel, owner of Magnolia Grill, said that restaurant was full Monday night and expected to be again on Tuesday. The restaurant has plenty of food regardless of when the next truck comes, but that’s not because he planned ahead.

&uot;We didn’t see this coming. We just keep plenty of food,&uot; he said. &uot;I hate to run out of food.&uot;

Running out of food is the only thing that can stop a restaurant from making money, the key being supply and transportation.

Supermarkets, after getting cleaned out of staples such as bread, water, batteries and ice, look forward to getting trucks in so they can turn around and do it again.

Wal-Mart, Piggly Wiggly and Natchez Markets 1 and 2 expected to receive a resupply Tuesday and foresaw no looming shortage of anything, so long as the power stays on.

&uot;Our suppliers are doing everything they can,&uot; Barry Loy, who co-owns the two Natchez Markets and Piggly Wiggly as well as the Vidalia and Ferriday Markets. &uot;We’re patchworking things together to get products.&uot;

The supply situation could improve. Loy said his company’s supplier, Associated Grocers, based in Baton Rouge, is going to be unable to send food south, so this area could be getting trucks everyday.

Getting to the grocery store might become more difficult, as the lines at the working gas stations showed.

Ronnie and Delores Havard came from Brookhaven to fuel up their car and their home as well.

&uot;We had to get gas so we can operate the generators,&uot; Delores Havard said. &uot;There’s no power anywhere around us.&uot;

Charles Zuccaro, co-owner of Independent Oil and Coal, operates six gas stations &045; three of which are Exxons &045;

said he’ll have plenty of gasoline in the days ahead.

&uot;We just got from Exxon in Baton Rouge a 200 percent allocation everyday,&uot; he said. As of right now, they’ll let us have what we need.&uot;

He added that the public can expect to see a 20-cent-a-gallon rise in prices. This reflects the national market, not local gouging.

The gas and food supply appear healthy.