"I feel pretty comfortable that this is a minor event," said Mark Golden as he bought flashlights and water at a Home Depot in Boca Raton, about 40 miles north of here.

Cash-dispensing teller machines were also knocked out, so people who did not have cash on hand could not buy flashlights, batteries or other supplies.

Residents everywhere were in a last-minute rush to buy provisions, and many found, with most neighborhood shops shuttered, that they had waited too long to buy more canned food, bottled water, candles, flashlights, car batteries and plastic containers.

"People are buying generators, flashlights, plywood, batteries, power tools, hammers and nails, tape and gas cans to hold the gas for the generators," Mr. Dumford said.

But on Wednesday, instead of shopping for party plates and cups, members scrambled for money to buy flashlights and other repair supplies.

There was no widespread rush yesterday to stock extra food, move boats to safe harbors or buy flashlights and candles.

And when his table was bare, he continued, he went to an all-for-a-dollar store, bought flashlights and sold them for $3.

We bought flashlights and simple knee-high rubber boots for the rain-forest treks, then drove out along the coast of the Golfo Dulce and up muddy roads to our lodge, Bosque del Cabo.

One friend fessed up to having bought flashlights.

More than a dozen people showed up yesterday morning at the North Shore Hardware store on Forest Avenue to buy batteries and flashlights, said the manager, Bryan O'Connell.