Actually, as a resident of Newport News, VA (on the VA Peninsula and about a 30 min drive from Norfolk), I can tell you it has been pure pandemonium here. There are still (9/21) about 400,000 ppl without power here. My neighborhood will likely not get power for another week as the damage in that area due to tree-crushed cars and houses (thankfully, not mine) is pretty bad (My street alone has 4 down power lines and one destroyed house - and we got off light compared to the streets behind us). My wife & I are staying with my Uncle in Hampton. As it was, he only got power last night (9/20). If it were not for his having a gas stove, we would have been largely unable to eat. Gasoline is a rare commodity. I needed some Friday and had to drive all the way to Richmond to get it. For the last 48 or so hours, we have been told our drinking water is contaminated (Just this evening they have cleared the water, they had previously said we could drink it or cook with it IF we boiled it vigorously for five min or added 8 drops of Liquid Clorox bleach to it and waited 30 mins). Water pumping stations all over the Peninsula are popping in and out, so we are *officially* not supposed to wash dishes, laundry, cars, or *OURSELVES* (Screw that - 4 ppl in a 90 degree inside temperature apt with no fan or AC for 2.5 days solid - we bathed, sue me). Food, ice, and gas are all pretty scarce. My wife & I are pretty fortunate in that we happened to have a bag of ice in the freezer at our home that kept our meat good. We had to cook it ALL at my Uncle's today in a marathon 4.5 hour cooking spree or it would have gone bad. As it happens, that means we have 2 pounds of Tater-Burger Casserole (A wife recipe, yum!), A huge pot of Spaghetti sauce using 4 pounds of ground beef, a 1/2 pound of kielbasa and 1 pound of bacon and the rest of our colby-jack cheese (despite how it sounds, Yummier), and 3 pounds of home made Chicken Marsala (Yummiest!!!). We have been cooking fools today pretty much cooking our month's worth of groceries so it wouldn't go bad. I thank GOD we have power so quickly here, like I said, it will be a week or so before I can return home to stay. Most ppl can not comprehend what it means to live through a disaster of this magnitude because we take so many things for granted (No restaurants, no gas stations, no grocery stores, no 7-11's [convenience store], no movie theatre, no mall, NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS [and in Hampton, damn few cops at major intersections!] - simply NO WHERE TO GO TO RELIEVE THE BOREDOM AND DISCOMFORT OF NO ELECTRICAL POWER ANYWHERE WITHIN A 60 MILE RADIUS OF YOU!) The four of us had damn near killed each other by the time the power miraculously came back on last night.
Gamester
Disaster refugee.
PS - I am sorry to here of your departure Dave, I will miss you greatly. Unfortunately, I have only been able to find out about it today (9/21) due to the aforementioned difficulties.
*edited for clarity*
Topic: OT but topical: Isabel (Read 2003 times)