Hurricane supplies sell briskly as Ike nears

By Karen Jacobs

ATLANTA (Reuters) - Plywood to board up houses, pumps and cleaning supplies for returning home were snapped up by Texas coastal homeowners on Friday in preparation for Hurricane Ike, national retailers said.

Home Depot, Lowe's Companies and Wal-Mart reported brisk sales at stores still open. Wal-Mart Stores Inc said ready-to-eat foods have been popular at stores, as well as water, propane, flashlights and batteries.

Officials warned Hurricane Ike could flood some 100,000 homes. The storm, called a "worst-case scenario" by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, has already shut down nearly a quarter of the crude oil and refinery production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Continental Airlines suspended operations at its Houston hub through Saturday, and ports were closed on Friday.

The Category 2 storm, with winds of more than 100 mph (160 kph), is expected to pass directly over Houston, the country's fourth-largest city, early on Saturday.

Wal-mart, which employs some 22,500 workers in the affected areas, has shuttered, or will close some 114 stores in Texas and nine in Louisiana by Friday evening.

Atlanta-based Home Depot said 10 of its stores along the Texas coast closed on Thursday because of mandatory evacuations, and an additional 39 were expected to close on Friday.

At Lowe's, 17 stores in the path of Hurricane Ike were closed, with another nine operated under reduced hours.

In Houston, large corporations shut their corporate offices, such as BMC Software and Service Corporation International, the largest funeral, cremation and cemetery services company in the United States.

Waste Management Inc said it had suspended collections in the affected areas through the weekend and had activated an emergency office in Austin.

(Additional reporting by Helen Chernikoff, writing by Alexandria Sage, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)