It’s not just bread and milk that people were stocking up on in advance of a blizzard that blustered into the region Monday.

Portable generators, snowblowers, shovels, ice melt, propane, gas containers, heaters, batteries, prescription medicines, alcohol and even five-gallon cans of home heating oil were in high demand as residents anticipated one of the worst snowstorms of the century.

Pharmacist Richard Olson at Quality Care Drug in New London said business was four to five times heavier than on a typical Monday morning.

“Mostly, I think people are worried that they will not be able to get their prescriptions filled ever again,” said Olson. “They are anticipating that we will be unavailable for a much longer period than we will be.”

The region’s home centers also were hit hard Monday.

“We’re about out of everything,” said Bill Johnson, owner of Johnson’s True Value in Groton.

By late afternoon, Cash True Value in East Lyme had seen more than 1,000 customers compared with a typical Monday of 300 to 400, said assistant manager Nick Wrobel. He estimated the store’s sales Monday included 50 to 60 gas cans and at least 20 snowblowers — though Sunday was a bigger day for snowblower sales.

“It’s been literally absolutely insane,” he said. “From 8 to 1, it was non-stop.”

Part of the problem, Wrobel said, was the fact people had only two days to prepare for the storm, compared with a more typical three- to five-day warning for a blizzard.

The blitz of customers forced two store employees to spend the entire day assembling portable generators, and demand for the items was so great that a third employee was added to the crew later on. About 30 of the generators had been assembled by mid-afternoon, and only one remained on the floor of the store.

“It’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it,” said Chad Everitt of East Lyme, a True Value customer who bought a $3,000 Honda generator Monday.

That was an attitude the 3-year-old business Generators on Demand in Old Lyme was cashing in on Monday. Company representative Irving Steel said the phone was ringing off the hook starting at 7 a.m., and with several major stores not having any generators in stock, the company’s ability to deliver and install a generator immediately was paying dividends.

The company offers to rent portable generators for as little as $75 a day, with a five-day minimum charge, and Steel said units were flying off the shelves Monday.

“This is a perfect storm for us,” he said.

At Benny’s in Waterford, snow-preparation items were selling as well.

“People are panicking,” said store manager Gordon Savard.

The company’s regional manager for Connecticut, Mark Kane, said he was confident, however, that the store could restock relatively quickly should it run out of merchandise.

Whether people will be on the road today or Wednesday remained a question. And that was causing restaurants — as well as other businesses — to close early and anticipate not reopening right away.

“I don’t think anyone will be open (today),” said Barry Neistat, co-owner of Muddy Waters Café in New London. “Even if we were to open we couldn’t get here.”

Neistat called the blizzard a “three-day loser” for his business because traffic was slow Monday in anticipation of the storm, Muddy Waters would be closed today and few people would be likely to come in Wednesday.

A sign at The Shack restaurant in East Lyme indicated it had closed at 2 p.m. and would be reopening when it was possible to do so. During the last blizzard that left people without power for days, The Shack had been bombed with business since it was in one of the few areas of town that didn’t lose power.

Bread, booze, gas

At NV Bakery and Market in Waterford, owner Maria Longinidis was preparing to close early Monday, having already sold out of bread. Normally, the market has bread into the evening, she said.

The market will remained closed today. Longinidis expects a late opening Wednesday, provided the market has electricity.

John Silva, who owns Silva’s package store in Waterford, said sales Monday were “incredible.”

He said the store had outdone sales from Saturday by noon Monday, a phenomenon he said he had not seen during past storms.

There was also a mad rush for gas. The dozen gas pumps at BJ’s Wholesale Club off the Cross Road in Waterford were doing a booming business Monday morning as motorists lined up all the way back to the entrance of the parking lot waiting to fill their tanks.

An employee was directing drivers to the pumps, keeping the long line moving forward. At about 9:30 a.m., more than 50 vehicles were at the pumps or in line waiting to fill up.

Johnson of Johnson’s True Value, who promised his store would be open today, said most customers were taking the storm well, smiling and laughing, saying “Here we go again.”

The mood was equally light at TriTown Foods in East Lyme, where assistant store manager Kelly Fitzpatrick reported business was at least three times what she saw on a typical Monday. Everything was moving out of the store, and there wasn’t a roll or ripe banana to be seen.

“Steaks are going out like it’s Christmas Eve again,” she said.

Shaylynn Barr of Groton, who was carting only a couple plastic bags of groceries at TriTown as she prepared to go home after work, said she didn’t see the need to stock up on bread or milk, her only bow to the elements being the purchase of a precooked chicken.

“This is New England,” Barr said. “If you have been up here all your life, you’re used to this.”