This man is very pensive as he seems to be trying to decide on what is left in the empty bread shelf at the John R. Wong Supermarket in New Kingston yesterday. - photos by Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

The supermarkets and petrol stations, especially, should be busy today, or whenever the storm, Gustav passes. As they were yesterday, but in the back offices, reconciling the books.

They were crowded yesterday. With Gustav bearing down hard and threatening to sidewipe the island's south coast and dump tons of rain on the island, people stocked up on essentials.

They also, it seems, went in droves also to automated banking machines (ABMs), rather than bank halls, for the cash to finance their transactions. But here, too, the precise numbers will have to wait, until after the storm.

For now the anecdotal evidence suffices.

"We are seeing some strong usage," said an official at JETS, the agency that manages MultiLink, the system that allows the ABMs of the island's banks to talk to each other.

Higher volume

That was early afternoon.

"We are noticing a slightly higher volume than we expected at this time, but we can't give any detail on the increase," he/she said.

Sheree Martin, the senior assistant general manager for marketing and communications at National Commercial Bank (NCB) noticed, too. That is, the heavy traffic at the ABMs.

"I saw a lot of cars and lines at the ABMs," said Martin, whose offices are at the Atrium on Trafalgar Road in the Jamaican capital's business district of New Kingston.

There was a moderate to heavy influx of customers at a few of the bank's branches, particularly in some rural towns, like Savanna-la-Mar in Westmoreland. That, though, could be because factory workers in the sugar belt are paid fortnightly. Gustav's threat coincided with their pay cycle.

Burdened supermarket

The cash being spewed out by the ABMs wasn't being hoarded. The burdened supermarket trolleys told their stories ... tinned foods, crackers, bottled water, batteries, torches, lanterns. A storm is on the way and people are taking the warnings seriously.

People might loose electricity and water for a while. They might have to depend on processed rather than fresh foods. They stocked up.

"They are basically preparing themselves," said Nadine Bennett, an assistant manager at the MegaMart superstore in Portmore, St Catherine, just west of Kingston. "We are having a bit of traffic here."

"Hurricane items are a priority, the water, the candles, the batteries, the flashlight, the tarpaulin - all the items that they are being advised to purchase, Bennett said. "That is the priority."

It was the same at other supermarkets in the capital and other towns.

Heavy traffic

"The traffic is extremely heavy," said Matthew Lym at Brooklyn Supermarket at Constant Spring Road, Kingston. "The traffic is extremely heavy. People are stocking up on batteries, bread, kerosene lamps, and toiletries."

Ditto for the Spanish Town, St Catherine branch of GraceKennedy's Hi-Lo supermarket chain.

"It is quite busy," quipped Donna Reid-Dillon, an official.

It was obvious, too, that with the possibility of Gustav having more than a mild flirt with Jamaica, motorists did not want to have the storm pass with empty or nearly empty petrol tanks.

Who knows what emergency may be at hand or when the pumps may flow again, in the event of a shutdown?

"Pump attendants are being kept busy," said a clerk at the Shell service station on Waterloo Road, Kingston. "Motorists are trying to fill up."

Kingston's business hotels were finding an economic gain from the threat of the storm. Occupancy rose with Jamaican clients, including the city's best-known hotel, The Pegasus.

"Traditionally, The Pegasus has been a safe haven," said Marcia Erskine, who handles public relations for the hotel. "So far, there is about a 15 per cent increase, mainly from the essential services such as the power and telephone company workers."

Its early afternoon. No heavy winds yet, but heavily overcast skies and clouds pregnant with rain. Yet, only intermittent showers.

"People are housed here," Erskine explained. "People who live in places high up in the hills also come."

Threatened

At least those who can afford the US$150 per night, who wouldn't be caught dead in a government shelter but whose generous homes could well be threatened.

By now the ports are closed.

Kingston Harbour is the world's seventh largest natural harbour. It hosts container terminals as well as a major transhipment facility. Its a busy place.

The gantry cranes are silent. No whizzing and buzzing of lifts or roars from haulage trucks.

The pilots have mostly taken the tugs to safe anchorage.

"Any vessels in working mode left and the two expected to work today cannot come," said Alrick Mitchell, operations manager of the private Kingston Wharves.

"No ship is in harbour. Every ship had to leave and go to anchorage, most likely in the opposite direction (to the storm) and as close to land as possible."

Susan Gordon and Dionne Rose

These men try to do some last-minute battening down of windows at the Ambrosia Restaurant and Bar in Barbican yesterday