WEBSTER, N.Y. — Severe weather that brought high winds to the Rochester region on Tuesday left thousands of homes and businesses without power.

The storm has especially impacted those expected to keep businesses running as usual.

“The power went off at my place and then I was like, 'if the food goes bad, like, I don't know, I'm hungry,' " said Dharma DeMarco. "So I went out to Webster Lake in the Plaza area to get food, and then I was driving and all the lights were out like the intersection. So like I said, 'it's kind of like a free-for-all.' ”

Many businesses from the Towne Center at Webster were left waiting for power to be restored so they could get back to work. Wayne Coyle was bartending at one of the restaurants located in the plaza.

“You can't print anything into the computer, so it's not like the old days where you had the carbon copy paper and you could keep one for yourself and put one in the kitchen," said Coyle. "It's all ready to shut down at this point. So if we get the go-ahead to shut it down, we'll just lock it up and walk out.”

Many customers say they have relied on the plaza as a second option for food and supplies.

“I don't know why there's a backup generator for this whole plaza," said DeMarco. "Like, there's a ton of food restaurants in here and everything. So I don't know how they're going to handle trying to put out for over an hour now. So if it's going to go bad or anything freezes and everything, I don't know. I feel like they should have a backup generator to handle that.”

Others were left to wait for power to turn back on, sitting in the dark at their jobs.

“I don't know how you can prepare for this," Coyle said. "It's just one of those things. We can't run the cards out. So good for them. And not a good day for everybody else.”

In the Rochester region, winds were predicted to reach 40 mph, and gusts officially hit 51 mph. Rochester Gas & Electric said its estimates may change as they work to restore power and investigate what repairs need to be made.

“I just hope I have power on at my house," said Coyle.