As a member of Cooke’s crew replaced downed electrical wire high atop a bucket truck on 62nd Avenue near Black Lake Boulevard, Cooke said that since the initial 36-hour shift Wednesday, they had been working continuous 18-hour shifts.
“We’re going until midnight tonight,” Cooke said Saturday. “We started at six this morning.”
The work is dangerous, Cooke said, but so far, no members of his crew had been struck by the wet, snow-laden tree branches that were causing many of the outages in Thurston County. By Saturday, the trees already had unloaded most of their snow, making their work easier, he added.
Cooke and his crew are one of 59 line crews employed by Puget Sound Energy to restore power to the Olympia area after snow, freezing rain, ice and sustained winds knocked out power to about 55,000 in Thurston County.
About 200 people were working in Thurston County to restore power Saturday – crews of Puget Sound Energy workers and subcontractors summoned from other states, including Oregon, Idaho and Utah, a PSE spokesman said.
With about 38,000 in Thurston County still without power as of Saturday afternoon, staying warm is becoming a paramount concern for many.
“The biggest concern is that we have a lot of people in the county who are cold,” said Sandy Johnson, Thurston County’s emergency-management coordinator. “It’s a hardship for people.”
The Red Lion Hotel Olympia on Evergreen Park Drive was booked solid Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and most of the guests were residents seeking refuge from facing the January cold without electricity or heat. Other area hotels also reported that the storm had filled them to capacity.
“We’re blessed that we had a place to stay,” said Red Lion Hotel guest Sandy Baker, who, along with her husband, Ted, lost power at their home in the Mud Bay Road area Thursday morning. The Bakers were leaving their hotel room Saturday morning after calling PSE and learning that their power was supposed to be restored later in the day.
Christina Cathey and her 5-year-old daughter were waiting for a ride home outside the Red Lion Hotel after learning from a neighbor that the power had been restored to their Olympia home. Cathey said she was ecstatic that hotel staffers refunded her for the room she had already booked for Saturday night after staying at the hotel Friday.
“I’ve got to clean out my freezer to make sure my food didn’t all go rotten,” Cathey said.
During an interview Saturday at Thurston County’s emergency-coordination center, Johnson said she thinks many people’s moods were improving with Saturday’s warmer weather. They also were seeing PSE crews working on power lines, she said.
“People are seeing positive change,” Johnson said.
However, she added, some people might not get power back for several days.
“There are still areas that are very difficult to get access to and there are still areas that are dangerous to (PSE) workers,” Johnson said.
She said her staff was working closely with PSE crews Thursday to identify and assess damage. PSE had a helicopter in the air Saturday in the southwest part of Thurston County to evaluate damage to its transmission lines, she said.
The emergency-coordination center has been activate since Tuesday, Johnson said. She added that the county’s 911 dispatchers dealt with the highest-ever call volume during the three-day storm event.
“We’re trying to gather information to get situational awareness about the incident, and then share that with Puget Sound Energy, the city and the other departments in the county,” she said.
Staffers at the emergency-coordination center also are trying to put the word out that the American Red Cross, Rainier Chapter, has opened two overnight shelters, one at the Nisqually Valley Moose Lodge at 1117 Yelm Ave. in Yelm and the other at the Black Lake/McLane Fire Station at 125 Delphi Road.
About 17 people spent Friday night at each of the shelters, said Larry Smith, a volunteer with the American Red Cross, Rainier Chapter.
There are also two “warming shelters” open – one at the Tenino Fire Department and another at the Bucoda Fire Department, Johnson said. The “warming shelters” offer people a place to stay temporarily during the day but do not allow overnight guests, she said. The “warming shelters” are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“There’s definitely more of a need for shelters as time goes on,” she said.
People affected by the storm can call the emergency-coordination center at 360-754-3360 for information about shelters, possible help with removing debris blocking driveways, and other resources that are available, Johnson said.
Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445
jpawloski@theolympian.com
