By Thane Grauel

WESTPORT — Supermarkets were a little crazy Friday afternoon as people scurried about, grabbing essentials before Westport, and much of the Northeast, was expected to be blanketed by deep snow.

The parking lot outside Whole Foods was packed. Trader Joe’s had only a few spots midday. At Stop & Shop, customers had to circle around, waiting for a spot or park at distant corners of the lot.

Inside the supermarket, almost every shopping cart was in use. Checkout lines were deep. Many people added plastic-wrapped bundles of firewood to pre-storm supplies.

Not far away at the Department of Public Works facility on the Sherwood Island Connector, there was little activity by afternoon. Workers came in early Friday to load salt and get the plow trucks ready for the the predicted onslaught.

Later in the day, DPW workers headed home for a respite before for the hours-long cleanup from the storm, predicted to last from Friday night to Saturday evening.

“They’ve got 36 hours’ worth of work coming,” Public Works Director Peter Ratkiewich said Friday. “They’re coming in probably around 8 p.m.”

“We’re loaded up and ready to go,” he said.

As far as the nor’easter forecast goes, Ratkiewich, it depends who you ask. He’s expecting 8 to 12 inches of snow.

“But if the storm stalls off the coast, it could be 18,” he added. 

Ratkiewich said coastal flooding isn’t expected to be a big problem, although winds will be gusting from the east.

A “Winter Storm Warning,” issued by the National Weather Service, remains in effect for southwestern Connecticut from 7 p.m. Friday until 7 p.m. Saturday.

At the state Department of Transportation facility off Post Road East, large orange plow trucks were being loaded with salt.

Elsewhere, business was brisk at Westport Hardware, 616 Post Road East.

Asked what was selling, owner Richard Velez said, “What isn’t selling?”

“Everything,” he said. “Sleds, reflectors, fatwood, firewood, gas cans, snowmelt.”

He said gas cans were for fuel for generators, and that many people also were buying firewood in case they lose power.

Westport Hardware is the last remaining hardware store in town. Velez said it’s been at its current location about 35 years. The business started on Main Street in the 1920s, he said.