But the events of the previous day weighed heavily on the minds of everyone.

''I think people in this community are continuing to go through their normal routines, but everyone is devastated emotionally,'' said Pat Blanchard, the chief executive officer of Georgia-Carolina Bancshares, the holding company for First Bank of Georgia. ''I've heard people say time and time again, this is like a bad dream.''

Tuesday saw several area businesses, including financial services companies and retailers, closed early for the day because the unfolding terrorist attacks in New York and Washington virtually froze consumer activity and employees desire to work.

''It was tough trying to get work done during those first few hours,'' said Tom Werner, president of Pierwood Construction Co. in Augusta. ''It's kind of hard going over plans for a dream home with a client when this type of thing is happening.''

Augusta Mall, along with four of its five anchor tenants, closed Tuesday at noon. Several mall merchants, such as furniture store The Bombay Co. and children's clothing store Children's Place, had planned to close anyway on the orders of their corporate headquarters.

Although the shopping center reopened at regular business hours Wednesday, a mall spokeswoman said she was unable to characterize the traffic as normal for a weekday.

Investment group Merrill Lynch, whose New York office was located near the top of the World Trade Center, closed all its offices Tuesday and reopened them Wednesday.

''Despite the fact that the market is closed, we are open to serve our clients,'' said vice president of public relations West Lockhart from Princeton, N.J.

Morgan Stanley's Augusta office stayed open Tuesday despite the fact its corporate offices were located at the World Trade Center. The company was able to maintain operations because its records and systems are duplicated at other offices throughout the country.

Businesses hampered by the attacks included courier services such as Augusta Air Cargo, which relies on airlines to move goods. As with the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx and other delivery services, Augusta Air Cargo was forced to rely on ground transportation.

''Everybody is still standing down,'' company owner Allan Corely said. ''I can't get anybody to accept the freight.''

About 25 percent of all mail is transported by air. Postal Service spokeswoman Donna Ricks said the organization is still accepting and delivering all classes of mail except international mail, which can't be flown into the country until air traffic is resumed.

At the new UPS Customhouse Brokerage, workers remained busy processing the customs paperwork for items that had yet to be flown into the country. The center was also taking on plenty of work from UPS' oversees partners.

''International flights have stopped, but the brokerage side is going fast and furious,'' said Jim Anderson, the operations manager.

Reach Damon Cline or John Bankston at (706) 823-3486 or bized@augustachronicle.com.