More than 10,000 people in Virginia went without power the weekend of Dec. 8-10. At one point, Dominion reported 1,876 customers lost power in the Town of Farmville, while Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) reported 834 members lost power in Prince Edward County, and 57 lost power in Cumberland.

“Trying to stay warm, it’s 55 (degrees) inside my house, no water due to pump to well having no power, no way to cook food,” said Benjamin Doss, of Rice, in response to a Herald Facebook post. “Worst of all I have a child with autism spectrum disorder that has no power to her devices to keep her calm. Did I mention I hate snow?”

It’s my hope that if this weather is what we are to expect from this winter that we would be able to expect different outcomes. The first snow of the season was a heavy one that clung to the trees and weighed them down. As Doss demonstrated in his response, no power means more than just lower inside temperatures. In my own residence no power means no internet, which means little-to-no capability of making a phone call or getting out any other means of communication. In case of emergency there’s little I could do from my residence.

In other cases it’s the elderly at home with added medical necessities that need power in order to keep those necessities equipped. While I appreciate the work of linemen working with both Dominion Energy and SEC, it’s my hope that maybe next time their work won’t have to be as strenuous.

MORGAN WHITE is a staff reporter for The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. His email address is Morgan.White@FarmvilleHerald.com.