In Lincoln, an Elkhart man who did not want to be identified, his wife, her brother and the couple's three children were the first to stay at a shelter set up in an Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital conference room.

They said they made the decision after learning power to their residence may be out 48 hours.

The family hopes to return home this weekend, the man said.

"If shelter needs are great, we are to contact Dan Fulscher for cots and a babysitter," hospital supervisor Paula Snodgrass said. Fulscher is Logan County Emergency Management Agency director.

Hardy Mount Pulaski residents made do, proving to be resourceful without power and facing a massive cleanup of limbs downed by the weight of the night's freezing rain and snow.

Lincoln IGA co-owner Charlie Lee said Friday he heard customers at Johnson's Food Center in Mount Pulaski were shopping with flashlights.

"I thought it was neat that they still opened to serve their community (even though the power was out)," Lee said.

What Lee heard was true.

Wanda Dumire said she opened the food center at 7 a.m. Friday - the usual time, but closed at 2 p.m.

"We don't have any electric at all," she explained, adding she gave arriving customers flashlights so they could make their way around, and notepads to jot down prices.

She said parts of the store were so dark she wasn't sure what stock was depleted.

"People have been buying bread, milk, food to eat, lunchmeat, snacks for kids to eat where they don't have to cook," she said. "Water and soda and batteries.

"I do know we are out of batteries."

Dumire planned to reopen the store when power was restored - or from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. today - regardless.

"I don't know if we can restock," she said Friday. "The truck was supposed to be here today, but they didn't make it, which is good, since there's no electric."

The nearby Dollar Store, pharmacy and the doctor's office all were closed Friday, Dumire said.

Johnson's True Value Hardware in Mount Pulaski opened with a small generator running the store's lights and cash register.

"Everybody's been buying batteries and extension cords and candles and kerosene," owner Doug Johnson said.

"Not all of the above, but most of the above are sold out.

"We opened at 7 a.m. We usually don't open until 7:30, but they were pulling into the parking lot at 7, so I opened up the doors."

Johnson said many of his customers were worried about how long power will be out.

"It sounds like a day or so if not longer for most folks," he said.

Johnson won't be able to restock depleted goods until sometime next week.

"Normally, we get our orders on Friday," he said. "But our delivery truck was stuck in the snow on the way from Chicago this morning, so he turned around and went back. I've got my regular stock coming in tomorrow, but a lot of things I sold out of today won't be in that order."

He planned to open the store today anyway - "if the generator holds on."

At Ace Hardware in Lincoln, cashier Jessica Prather began fielding a brisk stream of customers when the store opened at 7:30 a.m. in the midst of the storm.

"We've been pretty busy," she said at midday. "People are mostly buying generators and kerosene heaters."

But then she added, "We're out of generators and kerosene heaters."

Wal-Mart manager Cody Atkins described Friday as "a little strange."

"It hasn't been that drastically different," he said Friday afternoon. "There are less people getting out in the weather and it's more of a challenge for our associates to get out in the weather."

Nevertheless, Friday was the first of the month. And at Wal-Mart, snow or no snow, that day is always busy.

Customers were snapping up snow shovels, sleds, camp fuel, kerosene, flashlights and batteries "... items that people have to stock up on, unfortunately, when they're out of power," Atkins said.

Automotive supplies, such as deicer, window scrapers and the like were also in high demand.

"As of right now, I think we're in pretty good shape on most things," he said. "There may be a few things we will struggle to keep in stock as our deliveries struggle to get to us."

At the Lincoln IGA, Lee was saying sales were brisk.

"It seems like a lot of the women send their men in to shop when the weather's bad, and they'll just buy anything they see," he said. "You always make more money off of men. They always buy the extras."

Lee said he was surprised at the number of people who shopped at the store Friday despite the weather.

"It started out slow," he said. "People were milling around, but it's been a good day. Some people had trouble getting here. People seem to adapt really well. We're through the first storm."

One thing that didn't surprise Lee was what people were buying.

"It's always bread and milk," he said, "bread and milk."

Lee got deliveries Thursday, so he started the day with an ample supply of groceries.

"Lots of trucks cancelled today and will be running tomorrow," he said. "It looks like the trucks that didn't run today will run first thing in the morning. They might be a little late, but I think we'll see everybody show."

Several area drivers had a rough time on slick area roadways.

From 10 a.m. Thursday until 3 p.m. Friday, District 9 state police responded to 27 crashes and 129 calls for service, state police reported Friday night. No injuries were reported.

An 8 p.m. call to Lincoln/Logan County Ambulance Service was interrupted by a van rollover accident on Interstate 55, a mile north of the Illinois 10 exit in west Lincoln. Three people either got out or were helped from the vehicle.

Ron Zdellar, Ameren vice president, said Friday it would be days before all customers, including the 220,000 Illinois customers with outages, had electricity again.

AmerenCILCO spokesman Leigh Morris released a statement Friday evening saying, "This ranks as the worst ice storm in Ameren companies' history."

Morris' statement urged customers still without power restored to seek shelter, unplug electrical equipment and turn off furnaces. And, he warned, avoid downed wires, even if they look safe.