FARMVILLE – The sky huffed and puffed and blew the lights out for many across the area, and the state, as a fierce storm slammed through the region Wednesday night.

Nearly 2,000 Farmville residences and businesses were without power Thursday morning and the Prince Edward County Public School system was forced into a two-hour delay.

The power outage hit the southern end of town and southward beyond the Town's limit, elsewhere in Prince Edward County.

Residents in Buckingham and Cumberland were also left in the dark by a storm that dumped more than an inch of rain in the region, with wind gusts that would have earned speeding tickets on U.S. 460.