MOUNT VERNON — The orange traffic cones in front of the pumps at the Speedway gas station on South Main Street on Monday were not there because of a shortage of gasoline. Rather, “The power goes off and on and when people do pump gas it overloads the pumps,” according to the manager, who declined to be identified.

When queried about the supply of gasoline for the Duke and Duchess station on Coshocton Avenue, manager Steve Vogt looked at the computerized system that measures gasoline in the tanks. Pushing a couple of buttons, a tape readout rolled out.

“We have plenty of gas,” he said after looking at the tape.

Bullock’s, across from Duke and Duchess on Coshocton Avenue, just received a truckload of gas, according to employee Danielle Woosley. Traffic was heavy at both stations.

Tom Calland, who farms on Ohio 661 south of Brandon, was buying gasoline at the Sunoco station on South Main Street for his 5,000-watt generator.

“It keeps the freezers going, along with lights and the television,” he said. But, he added, “we don’t have hot water.”

Sunoco manager Jason Hamilton confirmed that many buyers were pumping gasoline for generators. Hamilton said heavy traffic for gasoline was using up his supply, but he expected a truckload of fuel to come in Monday afternoon.