OHIO, MARSHALL COUNTY, W.Va.-- While cleanup continues across the Ohio Valley, Wednesday, emergency managers were finally able to look back and assess the response to last weekend's storms. Many of them called it the worst disaster the valley has seen in years.

The storm blew in, through and out of the Valley. The damage stretched from one end of the region to the other. Roofs were torn off of landmark local businesses, and trees down just about everywhere, no community was spared.

“Talking with AEP they're comparing this to hurricane Ike. They're saying this is just as comparable or maybe even worse than hurricane Ike," said Ohio County Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo.

Meteorologists call that type of storm a derecho. It’s a long-tracking, straight-line wind storm associated with an organized line of showers and thunderstorms. Such storms strike the Ohio Valley, on average, every one to two years.

“We had every VFD out. Department of Highways crews worked hand in hand. Some of the rural departments opened their roads on their own," said Mike Mucheck with the Marshall County Office of Emergency Management.

In Marshall County, as soon as the storm hit, Mucheck said he and other officials started prioritizing county needs; all centered around protecting residents.

There were some pre-existing circumstances in Ohio County that added to their efforts.

“The biggest thing on Friday night, we saw it coming, we had the beast of the east tournament going on throughout the Ohio Valley. Every ball field was filled with children on it so we tried to get the word out to all those officials,” said Vargo.

Days later, with power still not fully restored, the effects are still being felt.

“If you have a mild wind event, it kind of clears it out every once in a while, and we deal with minor outages. But when you don't have anything for a long time and something like this comes through it's going to be a widespread effect," said Mucheck.

Amidst the cleanup of trees, limbs and branches, both men say thankfully, no lives were lost.

Vargo even said that when he and several other local agencies met with West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin this weekend, the governor mentioned that he couldn't recall a natural disaster like this that affected all 55 counties in the state.