Dear Editor,

I am writing regarding the storm of June 29 and its aftermath. The fact that we had a disastrous storm on June 29 is no one’s fault. It is also no one’s fault that there were so many who lost power during this event. It is the lack of assistance to the community that I question. Our family was one of the fortunate ones, who had the resources to acquire ice, food and the other things we needed to survive the more than five and a half days with no power. With no television, radio or Internet, there was no way to determine how to obtain emergency services. Calls to the power company were pretty pointless, because at one point, all they could say was that they were working on restoring service to all.

Where were the police, firemen, township officials and others who could have made things easier for all? I understand that the governor declared this event a disaster, but we saw no one trying to help us. Once information was more available, I learned that water and ice could be obtained, but if you had local water service, you would get no water. Ice was at a premium, and I understand that some vendors were charging $5 for a $2 bag of ice, and $10 for a $5 bag … is that not considered price gouging? Is anything being done about this? I hope so. Anyone who would take advantage of people in a situation like this should be punished.

Once the power had been restored, I visited a friend in Mason County, W.Va. where power and resources were also at a premium. But in that case, the National Guard arrived with supplies of ice and water, and some non-perishable food supplies. No one helped in Gallia County. Why?

Then today I received my Buckeye REC bill for this time period. Boy was I shocked! My last month’s bill was $414, which I think is totally ridiculous. But this month’s bill is $397. OK, it’s a little less than last month, but not enough less to explain nearly six days without power. And to make this situation even more ridiculous, it cost my family an additional $1,000 just to survive this five days without power. We had to purchase gasoline to drive the additional distances to obtain what we needed over the weekend, and daily had to help others around us to do the same. It appears that southeastern Ohio should be listed as a third world country, since we do not warrant the assistance provided to others. Our elected officials have a lot of explaining to do … and to have allowed this bad situation to continue as it did is a shameful way to run a state.

Susan Dearnell

Crown City, Ohio