After ripping through the great state of Texas and then making its way through the outskirts of Louisiana, Hurricane Ike has wreaked more havoc than any other hurricane to make landfall in the United States. On Sunday, September 14, the first day of the power outage in Louisville, KY, many residents were forced to relive the days when electricity and transportation were in the early stages of life. Gasoline prices jumped from $3.60 a gallon to $4.15 a gallon overnight, and fuel shortages caused chaos at all stations that had electricity. Cell phone use was at its highest, when the system was not bogged down and calls could be completed.

Everyone believed power would be back on soon as 75 mph Category 1 hurricane winds tore through Louisville International Airport. The local gas and electric company, LG&E, has said it will take 10-14 days before they can restore power to everyone affected. State Governor Steve Beshear has come out in favor of a reformulated gasoline reprieve valid until September 30 to bring in gasoline that isn’t necessarily up to air standards. This would bring relief to the thousands without fuel who continue up and down the streets in search of the last few drops available.

Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson partnered with Steve Beshear to bring in the Kentucky National Guard to help with cleanup and assist the public at traffic lights in congested areas. At the start of the blackout, more than 80% of the state was without power. At this time, the number is down to less than 129,000 households that are still in the dark. LG&E has workers from Indiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and some surrounding states assisting local workers 24 hours a day to restore service to as many as possible.

Dare to Care food banks have opened in many locations around the city, and the Red Cross has prepared meals on wheels for residents without electricity. Due to the extended outage which is now in its sixth day, most have lost all refrigerated food and must rely on outside sources for food. Dare to Care delivers 2 grocery bags of dry goods to residents in exchange for their name and number of people in the household. Those on the food stamp program can now go to the L&N building to request a replacement amount equal to the cost of the food they lost due to the power outage.

With gas and groceries closed, the economy in Louisville is stagnant. Public schools were closed for an entire week and the nation’s largest carrier, UPS, canceled some of its shifts. Shively, PRP, Downtown and East End are the most affected by this natural disaster. So far there are 2 deaths related to this storm, a small child struck by a tree branch and a woman who was using a generator inside her house died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Worse storms have been recorded in Louisville, but no major damage is known on record for such a large area.