ATLANTA -- Unless they've been stockpiling, frozen waffle fans may have to leggo their Eggos for a few months amid a nationwide shortage of the popular breakfast food blamed on the flooding in Atlanta in September.

Shoppers searching for Eggos have found empty freezer shelves and apologetic signs. At the top of the Kellogg's Web site is the message: "Some of your favorite Eggo products are out of stock nationally. We are working hard to fix this short-term issue."

But just how short-term remains unclear. Kellogg's also posted a statement on their web site forecasting the shortage could last eight months.

"We are working around the clock to restore Eggo store inventories to normal levels as quickly as possible," Kellogg's spokeswoman Kris Charles wrote in an e-mail. "In the meantime, we're allocating available product to customers based on historical percentage of business. We estimate that store freezer inventory shortfalls will continue on Eggo products through the first half of 2010."

Heavy rains that soaked Atlanta last month knocked out Kellogg's waffle operations near Thornton Road, south of I-20 and west of I-285.

"We are experiencing temporary Eggo supply constraints caused by a confluence of events," Charles wrote. "Flooding at our Atlanta facility as well as equipment issues necessitating extensive enhancements and repairs at our largest waffle bakery facility."

Consumerist, a Web site run by Consumers Union, first noticed the shortage last week. A distraught customer e-mailed a photo of a grocery freezer sign reading "Eggo Waffles Out of Stock."

"I was wondering if y'all knew what the holdup at the Eggo plant is," Kimberly asked Consumerist. "What is the world without mass-produced waffle goodness?"