Tuesday, May 21 2013 12:18 PM EDT2013-05-21 16:18:28 GMT
Three people were inside this burning home but managed to get out safely.
Firefighters are battling a massive fire in East Bank in Kanawha County. A house on Walnut Street went up in flames around 5:15 a.m. Firefighters said two people were home at the time but managed to
Three escape massive fire in a home on Walnut Street in Kanawha County
Friday's storm caught Putnam County farmer Chris Burdette by surprise.
"I grabbed the doors and shut them. I had to stay in here to keep them shut," said Burdette.
For 45 minutes during Friday's storm, Burdette held the doors of his Hi-Tunnel and rolled the flaps down to keep the structure from blowing away because he has thousands of plants inside.
"If you don't get the sides down, it's kind of like an umbrella effect. The wind gets under it and lifts it," said Burdette.
The Burdette's survived Friday's storms but their struggle continues. Now this farming family is one of thousands across West Virginia that either don't have electricity, water or both.
"Water is a real issue. It's a real critical time for these plants. Some areas of the county had an inch of rain during that storm. Some had no rain," said Chuck Talbott, WVU Extension Agent for Putnam County.
"A couple more days in this extreme heat and the blueberry bushes will really start stressing," said Leslie Burdette, Chris' wife.
The Burdette's raise blueberries, blackberries and raspberries with thousands invested in the plants. With no power they can't irrigate, and if their plants cannot get water the plants will start dying. That means you may not get you pick of fresh produce from local farmer's market. However, Chris remains optimistic about the season.
"We try and look and figure out what we can do to make it work out. It's not been quite like we wanted so far but I thing it will be ok," said Burdette.
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