Lincoln Countians were out shopping in full force Monday, butnot just for Christmas gifts.

Many people were preparing for the cold weather that has alreadyhit the area with a few snowflakes falling Tuesday morning.

The most requested items in Brookhaven appeared to be any typeof heating unit as Tuesday’s high was expected to be 30 degrees,with the wind chill factor near zero. Weather forecasters expect ahard freeze in the area tonight with temperatures dipping to 20degrees or below.

“We’ve definitely had an increase in all kinds of heaters beingsold,” said Cletos Goza, an employee at a local hardware store.

Some of the other items sold at hardware stores yesterdayinclude weather stripping, pipe insulation, and other pipe linesupplies.

Lincoln County residents didn’t just get their homes ready forthe cold weather, they were also out in droves buying auto suppliessince the temperature will be below freezing for the next twodays.

“People have been buying a lot of antifreeze, de-icers, icescrapers and thermostats,” said Rene Jackson, assistant manager ata local auto parts store.

Even though a hard freeze is forecast, the majority of residentsdid not seem to be too concerned about power outages, according toemployees of area grocery stores.

Some of the most common items bought in preparation for coldweather tend to be bread, water and other necessary supplies, butthat was not the case this time.

“It’s been a little busier, but I think most people bought thatkind of stuff last week when it was supposed to get bad,” said MikeSmith, the manager of a local grocery store.

Southwest Mississippi is getting just a taste of what otherSoutherners are enduring — with winter still officially two daysaway.

Atlanta got 3 inches of snow overnight and Delta Air Linescanceled 50 to 75 percent of its morning flights out of HartsfieldAtlanta International Airport. Schools were closed because ofslippery roads in parts of Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas andTennessee.