The Night the Lights Went out in Kentucky, Again

It was sometime after 10:00 pm this past Sunday night.  I was getting ready to play a round of Golf Clash, after posting some messages for my fellow players, but I wasn't feeling it.  For the past few minutes, the lights had been flickering.  The forecast wasn't that high for storms, and the radar didn't show anything near by.  Still, I felt wrong.  I decided not to just stop playing, but to temporarily shut off my laptop.  Barely a moment after I did, the power went off, for a second.  The lights came back on, but the television did not.  The cable box began to search for channels.  The router also started to blink, with most of the lights on it out.  All of a sudden, the power went off again, and it did not come back on immediately.  There was a high wind advisory, but it didn't officially start until midnight.  Apparently, the gusts started early.  I had been hearing the wind for awhile before the power went out.  Strangely enough, I'm not really sure I even heard any thunder, although a storm may have been a county or two over.  That night, while trying to fall asleep, I mostly heard rain, not wind.  Just before going to bed, some neighbors had gone out to check on the damage.  There were some reports of trees down, as well as some damage to the city hall.  When I woke up the next morning, I knew the power was still out, as the light I had left switched on was still off.  A call to the power company revealed nothing much, just that the power could be back on that day.  More talking with neighbors revealed that there was more damage all over than just here.  Pikeville police suggested that an E1 tornado may have come through the city, with the level of damages received, although straight-line winds were slightly more likely.  Phone calls to friends and relatives showed just how far flung the damages were.  On the plus side, many parts of Pikeville had their power restored by mid-afternoon.  Not here.  In fact, a crew that had come that night had left  before they could do anything, mostly due to the heavy rain that night.  They were supposed to return that day, but I guess they were called off to another site that affected a greater number of costumers.  What was worse was that a cable from my place had seemed to fallen in the storms, suggesting I might not have cable television and/or internet when the power came back on.  Anyway, a second restless night was spent without power.  I could barely sleep, and I woke up about 3:30 am and never really got back to sleep.  When I did get up, the second part of the problem was revealed--the water was going off.  Apparently, again, the pumps didn't have a back-up, and the tanks ran dry.  They would have ran out anyway, but it didn't help that a person down the street washed it down with some of that water, even though it had been raining on and off the entire day.  That person also had a generator that ran all night.  I almost thought it was the sound of a crew working just out of sight, until I found out the truth later on that second day.  Even though it wasn't planned, I made a quick trip to Pikeville to check up on my store.  I saw the extent of the damage everywhere:  downed trees, broken roofs, debris-covered roads.  The store was fine, by the way.  Sure, the power had been out, but there was nothing there that could have been hurt.  Unfortunately, I had no reliable wifi signal there.  On the first day, I even tried to use the cars wifi, but my laptop wouldn't accept it.  Some sort of security issue.  So, that was the second day.  At least the town got a diesel powered generator for the pumps.  I even saw it go up the road, I think.  That night, it was colder.  Still had problems sleeping.  The start of the third day began with another phone call.  This time, it seemed to actually have a real answer that fit into a timeline. In fact, the trucks were arrivals just as I was leaving for Pikeville again to try and start getting supplies and such.  By the time I got back, the water was back on, but not the electricity. At least I got back online.  I had to sit in a parking lot to do so, but I managed to get a bare minimum done.  I even got some reception ag the store.  Reports starting coming in suggesting the power would be on later that day.  It did actually come on, later than other nearby areas, but at a similar time to many of them.  I guess power companies prefer 7:00 start times.  Well, I got even luckier as I started to turn things on.  I actually had cable, and internet.  I guess that downed wire wasn't actually hooked up to my place.  Still, I am thankful.  I just wish that the many conflicting reports weren't so wrong, with different calls giving different answers and officials who may have sent too many crews to some sites.