I was managing a beach bar when Lenny rolled through in '99. It was literally at the end of the electrical feed, but the power came back after the hurricane. But the wire had come off the pole closest to the bar, and was hanging about head height. I called BVIEC and reported the problem, but also told them to obviously put me lower on the list since I DID have current. After a few days the winds came up a little, and as the wire swung with the wind, the lights in the bar were blinking on-and-off occasionally, so I called BVIEC the next day and told them not to leave me on the bottom of the list.

The next day two workers showed up. One went up the pole and one worked on the box on the side of the bar. After a while the guy motioned me over and said, "wha' on de menu?" I kinda thought he was shaking me down, but chocked it up as a cost of doing business, so I said "hamburger, cheeseburger, fish sandwich, chicken sandwich", etc. He grinned and said, "no fry rat?" and opened up the gray box all the way so that I could see what was causing my problem - a large rat, seeking shelter from the storm, had electrocuted himself, and partially burnt the wires!

I did give the BVIEC guys lunch.