Here is a story that was in our local newspaper.

Power still out in hurricane-damaged areas

KILL DEVIL HILLS, N.C. -- Traffic lights were still not working for many commuters headed back to work Monday, as some 1.4 million customers from North Carolina to Pennsylvania remained without power because of Hurricane Isabel.

Along the hard-hit Outer Banks, residents walked the trash-strewn beaches and ate breakfast in the few restaurants that were serving. Road crews had plowed the sand from major beach roads into 6- to 8-foot-high berms along the shoulders, but police checkpoints still kept outsiders away.

''Some of the stores are open, but they're not selling dairy products yet,'' said Erica Stephens, 30, of Kill Devil Hills, as she walked her dog Ozzie along the sand. ''We're trying to function. Everybody's trying to function.''

Farther south along the Outer Banks, on the southern tip of Hatteras Island -- that was isolated when Isabel carved a new channel across the island -- residents of Hatteras Village said they were getting along with the help of relief workers.

''Thank goodness for the Salvation Army,'' said Janet Aiken. ''They're serving up three hot squares a day to anyone who needs it. And the National Guard brought in a lot of water for us and set up the generators, so we've got electricity in some parts and enough drinking water.''

She said volunteers with a boat had come by the island to pick up elderly residents or people with heart conditions. ''That's just how people are here.''

Across eastern and central North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Delaware, power companies were repairing downed lines to try to restore electricity three days after Isabel stormed the East Coast. For many residents of the hardest-hit areas, running water also was in short supply.

High water still had not receded in parts of Virginia. Two Old Order Mennonites died Sunday in the Shenandoah Valley when their horse-drawn buggy was swept away as they tried to cross a flooded bridge.

The deadly effects of the storm also were being felt in Pennsylvania, where a woman died Sunday from fumes emitted by a generator used to power her house.

They were among at least 34 deaths blamed on the storm, 19 of them in Virginia.

Along with traffic light problems, lingering flooding detoured some commuters. The Midtown Tunnel, which carries 40,000 vehicles a day between Portsmouth and Norfolk, Va., was still full of water, forcing many people to board a passenger ferry across the Elizabeth River.