When electrical power went out years ago, the poor sometimes could survive better than others, said one participant Monday night at a meeting on memorable local weather events.

Marlyn Benoist told a gathering of the Richmond County Historical Society at Rockingham City Hall that many families during the 1969 record snow storm were fortunate to have oil heaters that didn’t need electric fans like the more expensive heaters. And many had oil lamps as well.

Moderator Jimmy Smith of WAYN radio commenting on how people adapted to such experiences said, “We do what we have to do.”

In his opening statement, Smith said in today’s world losing electric power for many leaves them “just about helpless.”

Since the tornado of 1884 in which 45 were killed and even more injured in the Philadelphia Community, Richmond County residents have endured ice storms, floods, heavy snows and temperatures at 14 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

Smith recalled notes of a Rockingham woman describing a 1956 tornado strike in which she wrote of the awful heat of the day, thunder and lightning, the terrific noise like a train and the “smell of sulfur.”

Restoring electricity was an especially bad experience for one service company manager when after one emergency he was transferred because complaints of favoritism because some locations had their service restored first.

Being on a grid involving a hospital or emergency services proves to be a good location for quick restoration of electric service.

When one family had to cook in a fireplace for a week after a local snowstorm, the children in the family were said to be delighted.

Smith said after one storm he joined others in a long line at a store to purchase a portable kerosene heater only to get home and have the power restored shortly thereafter.

The loss of 60,000 turkeys in one storm was eased somewhat when a fertilizer company agreed to come and pick them up, said Norma Garris.

Speaking of the 1969 snow event, a younger member of the audience recalled, “ I was eight years old, and it was great.”

Former Rockingham Mayor G. R. Kindley Jr. said even with the help of the N.C. National Guard, more help was needed in 1969 to clear streets of debris, so prison inmates were requested to help.

“People pulled together as citizens and cooperated with one another,” he said.

Smith concluded the discussion with the comment once made in a radio broadcast, “It could happen tomorrow. Sleep well.”