From calling in extra help to staying open all night, Vicksburg’s grocery and home supply stores were ready for Gustav.

The Home Depot was open all night Saturday and Sunday “so people could have a place to come for supplies,” clerk Brenda Gurganus said Monday afternoon,as a steady stream of customers flowed through aisles and checkout counters.

Cars in the parking lot were testimony that rain and wind were not keeping shoppers at home.

The store on Halls Ferry Road sold nearly 500 generators from Thursday through Monday, said manager Jeff Woods.

Extra shipments came in from the store’s distribution center in New Orleans, were loaded “as fast as possible” and trucked through evacuation traffic to Vicksburg, where they were sold or transferred to other Home Depot branches in Clinton, Jackson and Monroe, La.

“For the most part the public has been really understanding and patient, waiting for things,” Woods said. “We put it out on the radio and also put up signs in the store that we would stay open all night.”

In addition to generators, charcoal, small propane bottles, grills, water, flashlights and batteries were also quick-moving, Gurganus said.

At Corner Market on North Frontage Road, New Orleans evacuees and “best friends” Katrina Major and Cynthia Hughes were buying microwave meals, fruit and lemon meringue pie to take back to their motel room.

Major arrived in Vicksburg Saturday morning with her uncle, while Hughes came up that night with her sister and several other family members including 4-year-old grandson Brandon.

“The roads were packed,” Hughes said, but traffic was steadily moving at about 30 mph away from New Orleans.

The group had initially taken two rooms, and “begged” to get two more, Major said. Despite the upheaval and the prospect of spending their rent money on hotel rooms, the group was in good spirits Monday. “We’re keeping positive,” she said.

“We might be spending the rent money, but then again we might not even have a house to come back to,” said Hughes.

Both Major and Hughes also evacuated during Hurricane Katrina three years ago. Major said that during Katrina her uncle had been rescued from a rooftop and it had taken weeks to be reunited with him. Because of that, the threat of Gustav made her evacuate the city with him as early as she could. Major said if anything as destructive as Katrina happens again, she’ll move out of New Orleans for good.

“Not me,” said Hughes, adding New Orleans is her home and she would always go back, no matter what. “But I have faith in God — I don’t think he’s gonna do that to us again ” She was planning to return Wednesday, while Major hoped to stay until Friday.

“At least they can pinpoint a hurricane and give us time to leave,” Hughes said. “There’s some other disasters that they can’t predict.”

Inside Corner Market business had been slower than expected, assistant manager Ann Hambright said. “We scheduled extra cashiers, but I think everybody got what they needed over the weekend and they’re all staying in now.” Over the weekend the store had been “extra busy,” but Monday the store’s central office told them to close early at 6:30 p.m. instead of their normal 10 p.m., Hambright said, because of the storm.

At County Market on Clay Street Vicksburg resident Derrick Wince was stocking up on sandwich meats and snacks. “I’m not buying a lot of meat,” Wince said. “I lost a lot the last time.”

Store manager Jerry Stuckey said business over the weekend had been busier than usual, but they had received a shipment Monday morning and were well stocked “except for D batteries and candles.” Business was up “about 30 percent,” he said, with many customers coming through from New Orleans, Slidell and other parts of Louisiana, headed for visits with friends or to area shelters.

At Wal-Mart SuperCenter, the atmosphere was hectic and busy, said customer service manager India Traylor and clerk Takheila Bailey. “I like it,” Bailey said. “There’s more work but it’s more exciting.”

“People get a little bit tense, a little more emotional than usual,” Traylor said. “We need to be extra nice to them and more patient than usual.

 “We had a couple of trailers parked out in the parking lot that we had to go out and ask to move,” Traylor said. “Some of the people were sleeping, but one was in here shopping.”

Local convenience stores near the interstate reported mixed business — mostly busy over the weekend but slower as the storm came ashore Monday. The Kangaroo Express at Iowa Avenue and U.S. 61 South saw many drivers from Louisiana on Sunday, a clerk said. “We didn’t run out of anything except ice.”

“It’s been a little slow today, but steady,” a clerk at the Kangaroo Express on Halls Ferry said Monday. “We’ve had plenty of people come in off the interstate asking directions to hotels and restaurants.” No one had come in asking about shelters, she added.

Kroger manager Jonathan Demming said company regulations prohibited him from commenting.