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I completely understand that there are a lot of people coming in to our area to help out. Believe me, we're very grateful.

But you should understand some of the frustration here in the Richmond area. Over 400,000 people in the Richmond area alone lost power. Over 1M throughout the state. Dominion Power knew for at least a week that this storm was going to hit Virginia and hit it really hard. As of yesterday, just a shade under 200,000 in Richmond are still without power. That is less than 50% restored in a week. Compare that to Northern Virginia who is 90% restored (they'll be 100% restored today) and Tidewater who is about 75% restored. Why is Richmond getting the short of the stick here? That's why we're frustrated in Richmond.

Also, FEMA has admitted that it completely blew it with regard to having enough water available. I know many people who were standing in lines for hours and hours trying to get some drinking water. Thankfully, the boil water advisory has been lifted.

I am also very aware of the fact that there are people who will be without power and water for a long time. My sister and her family are some of those people.

I haven't seen the interviews on TV that you're talking about. Most people I know are soldiering on through all this and we're all helping each other. But I think our frustration is understandable when compared to the rest of the state.

I'm off my rant now. I didn't think I was being too whiney about this but I guess I came off that way. So, my apologies for being whiney but no apologies for being frustrated.

No, you weren't. I lived through Hugo, which was a category 4 storm and the damage was horrendous compared to a category 2 storm. Hugo also didn't move as fast as Isabel. The power companies were prepared as they could be with Hugo, but you can never be prepared totally for any emergency.

Perhaps we just know how to prepare better down here, both mentally and physically. I don't know.