The parking lot at Chick-fil-A was nearly empty and the drive-thru, that is normally full of cars, was quiet during the mid-day lunch hours Wednesday.

Instead, the occasional customer walked to the door and was forced to turn around after reading a sign announcing the restaurant was closed due to a water emergency in Vicksburg.

Chick-fil-A was not alone, as a number of other restaurants were forced to close after a broken water main left Vicksburg with little water pressure or no water at all Wednesday.

“We are closing as we speak,” Joyce Clingan, owner of Walnut Hills, said. “We will be closed until we get water from the city. It is too many health regulations.”

Clingan said they would remain closed until water is restored in the city.

Jeff Haralson, the assistant manger at Shoney’s said they were forced to close early Wednesday, but will try to open Thursday if water is restored.

“We are checking in the morning to see how it goes,” Haralson said. “We will see in the morning if we have the water back on. We need our water. We couldn’t serve today because we didn’t have any water, so we had to close early.”

Rowdy Nosser, who owns Rowdy’s and the two Taco Casa locations in Vicksburg, said the lack of water forced him to close both Taco Casa locations around 1 p.m. Wednesday. Rowdy’s was not impact since it is located in the county receives water from the Culkin Water District.

“It is best for sanitary purposes to just shut down,” Nosser said. “I’m going to be closed down until water is restored, or until the city gives me a process of what I can be up to code and be sanitary to open.”

Nosser said he is waiting to hear from the health department on whether he can open at least the drive-thru and serve food by using bottled water.

Thursday, some restaurants had announced they had received Mississippi Department of Health permission to open, using practices to ensure quality and safety.