Waiting for ice and water, waiting for gas, waiting for power.
The world moved in slow motion in Escambia County on Friday.
With Ivan gone and the sweltering sun beating down, the thankfulness of days past was replaced with frustration and impatience. And with bridges washed away and roads impassable, relief workers struggled to simply get to Pensacola.
"We've had logistical challenges in getting support in," Gov. Jeb Bush said during a visit to Escambia County on Friday via helicopter.
Traffic inched along Pensacola's main roads - at least the ones that remained open. Most lacked streetlights. Even police cars, fire engines and ambulances with sirens blaring had trouble getting through the bumper-to-bumper traffic.
National Guard officers manned most intersections, trying to keep traffic moving. At times, even that seemed futile.
When word spread that a Wal-Mart off U.S. 29 near Cantonment had opened Friday morning, traffic quickly overflowed the parking lot and created a logjam on the highway that stretched for miles.
It got worse with the news that a nearby gas station had opened. More than 100 people parked their cars on the side of U.S. 29 and stood in line, each holding an empty gas can. More waiting.
Aid stations quickly ran out of supplies as the afternoon wore on. But not before they experienced long lines, weary faces and short tempers.
Nowhere was that more evident than at Pensacola Junior College, where workers spent the day handing out ice and water. Lines stretched in every direction for miles, snaking lines of traffic that moved at an excruciating pace. Some people waited as long as three hours for a few bottles of water and a small bag of ice.
They blamed the wait on the National Guard. They blamed it on people cutting in line. They blamed it on poor organization. Some just cursed out loud and drove away.
"If you're going to keep the peace, you've got to let people get some water," said Dea Courman of Pensacola. She waited in the car with her father for more than two hours.
"You've got some pretty pissed-off people," she said."We're all trying to be neighborly. (But) it seems to me to be unorganized. If you're going to do it, do it right."
Johnnie Lee's face dripped with sweat by the time he finally got his ice.
"Oh, man, we waited," said the 44-year-old Pensacola man. "It's frustrating. They need more people."
He thought about the long wait and shook his head.
"All this, for a bag of ice."
Nearby, a woman handed out copies of Friday's Pensacola News Journal to people waiting in line. The headline: Nightmare.
Everyone was in the same predicament. The people in the Lexuses and BMWs waited in the same lines as the people in the beat-up pickups and the rusted-out Chevrolets.
They all wore the same look - vacant, tired, sweaty stares.
Still, there were those who managed to keep the long waits in perspective.
"They are getting kind of tense," said Wayne Harding, 45, gesturing toward the long line at an aid station outside a Big Lots near downtown Pensacola. "You should be thankful you're here."
