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Don't know how much has been on the news this past week about the storm that took out the power in most of WV. HOT HOT HOT the past several days, hundreds of trees down, and still no power at my house. ugh...

Hey Brooke, hope it goes better for you! I remember when I was caught up in Isebel in 2003 while I was going through Comm school. I was only without power for 3 days it that was enough! I know some nearby were out for a week plus like you and it was pure misery. I guess I'm luck that here in Oki the island is built to withstand the many typhoons we get.

Good luck getting the power back on! I remember the feeling when all of your lights (and most importantly, AC) comes back on at some random time!!!

Wow, read your note to Lee and he's like, NINE DAYS!!! That has really got to be rough. While it's been damned hot and miserable here, at least everything is running. Keep us posted.

Finally got power back Monday night around 7, cable & internet back this afternoon. There are some people here in town that are still out. We had a couple trees down in our yard, they didn't hit anything (small miricle), some roof damage, and threw away a boat load of food.

It didn't take me long back in the "world" to realize that I didn't really miss anything.... I'm surprised there wasn't much on the news about it. Sad..... The welfare recipients will be re-issued food stams for their lost food, the rest of us are SOL. My mom couldn't even get the national guard here in Fayetteville to give her a pack of bottled water from the skid they were sitting on, nor could they tell her where the distribution centers were. This town was totally unorganized and completely unprepared, most of us were just on our own.

It was sooooo stinkin' hot. They said we had record breaking temperatres and many of the records were set in the sumer of 1988. I remember well the summer of 1988, we had no AC in the house or the car! It was miserable, lol!!!! At least last week we were able to get our cars and go somewhere, most of Beckley (20 to 30 minute drive) was up within 24 - 36 hours of the storm. Eddie was home that week and took me to Starbucks almost everyday so we could check our emails. My uncle was in FL that week, but his empty house across town had a nice gas hot water heater so I was able to take a hot shower most of the time which I was grateful for (his house actually had power restored on Wednesday). Those two days of heating water up on the grill to bathe were enough for me. I can do it, but I don't have to like it.

They said on the radio that some of the poles being replaced were so old they were erected in the 1930s with mules.

Todd: my BF applied for a job in Oki a couple years ago, the company didn't get the contract. He really wanted to go.

So glad to be back

What an ordeal. A friend of mine went down to West Virginia to pick up her boyfriend. They had planned a trip to New York. So happens she timed it perfectly and arrived WITH the storm. It took her an additional 6 hours to get to his house. She had no cell phone service so she couldn't even call him. He was worried sick. When she got so far, she was SOL, for the tree damage, etc., would not allow her to actually get directly to his place. Luckily some locals said, follow us and took her and several others through the back roads and they actually got within a half mile of his place, and the rest of the way she had to walk. She's like, what a way to start a vacation.

As she's driving the wind is whipping and trees and wires were falling all around her. She was scared to death!

They tried to drive to New York the next day, but she said no gas stations were open. She was so surprised to see that no one had generators. They kept driving and each time they'd come on another closed station. They were running out of gas, when finally they find an open one almost 200 miles out! They had a FOUR hour wait to fill up. He had to leave the car and found a hardware store of something of that nature, and purchased a one-gallon container for an outrageous amount of money. I believe they said it was over $16.00. Wow!

Anyway he managed to fill that little container up and walked back to his truck. This enabled them to get enough gas to drive to the station and wait...

She said there were stranded people all up and down the road, who already ran out. She'd never seen anything like it.

She did not picture the first two days of her vacation this way, that's for sure!

Hey Brooke, loved the image you posted on FB showing that aerial view with the giant pocket of the coastal area, all without lights. It looked so strange, almost as though a giant monster had bitten a part of the US and eaten it. You guys were !!!!!

I believe it!! Do you know where she was? This stupid storm affected 53 out of 55 counties.

I was pet sitting for a friend that lives almost 40 miles from my house and when I left their house that Saturday morning there wasn't a spec of electricity between there and Fayetteville. There were two gas stations open with awful lines. It was down right creepy. Oak Hill didn't get power back for several days and I'll tell you, a city is creepy at night with absolutely no lighting. Felt like a scene from The Walking Dead.

I had to go and pick Eddie up at the airport Saturday night and I waited an hour and a half at the closest gas station. I knew that there were a few in Beckley open but I their lines were just as bad so I just waited. I didn't even know if Charleston was going to have electricity at that point (turns out they did). There were still some trees down on the way to the airport and that was after 6 pm. I got some pics of it but I haven't gotten them off of my tablet yet.

That Shell station was crazy... there were people everywhere. I saw some guys pushing a car up the line and gawd it was sooooo hot!

I'll find out where she was and let you know. Holy cow, it's wild to learn all that transpired!!!!

BTW, liked your description - "The Walking Dead". I can picture that!!!!

Talked to my friend and the house is 10 minutes in after you cross the border. Said it's the town of Letart. Nearby cities are Ripley and Mason.

The interstate thru Ripley is pretty sparse. Power is still going out periodically in some places but overall we're on the mend.