NATCHEZ — John Hicks with Hicks Distributing in Natchez said that because of good planning Hicks Distribution did not lose any refrigerated or frozen merchandise due to power outages.

“The freezers are set up to maintain their temperature and until we got our generators up and running we didn’t open any of the freezers,” Hicks said. “My electrician and a network of friends went above and beyond rounding up generators and fuel. We never had anything thaw.”

Because he was able to switch to generator power quickly after the power outages, Hicks has been able to deliver food orders to the Red Cross shelters and fill orders for many of the emergency service workers in the area.

Power has been restored to the building but Hicks has not yet turned off his generators.

“Because of the storms that are still lingering, I have not switched back to regular power,” Hicks said “I have half my coolers and freezer hooked up to regular power and half to generators so we can switch back quickly if the need arises.

Hicks also doesn’t anticipate a problem with restocking his freezers. He has a supplier from Illinois scheduled to make a delivery Friday and one on Atlanta that is on standby.