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I assume that most people in the affected area were without power, but what about phones, including cell phones and email?


Power actually stayed ON for most of this one - until the waters receded and the local power utility pulled the meters on all homes that were submerged. That made people unhappy. Phones still worked, cell phones barely work around here in NORMAL weather, they were as unrealiable as usual this time.

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From your previous posts, I gather that drinking water was critical since most wells were tainted? Was the water beyond the point where purification would do the job? Was it chemically tainted as well?


Still is critical. Many wells could be purified by dumping a gallon of belach down the well and running the pump for a while. This was the case with simple coliform contamination. The real problem is the thousands and thousands of gallons of home heating oil the went into the wells also. Not to mention all the chemical crud that came out of basements and garages.

It will be a long time before water from the well is drinkable again - if ever.