Emergency label extended

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency for all of Washington on Saturday, rescinding a similar proclamation Friday that included only 17 Western Washington counties.

“Just like all Washingtonians, I hope for a quick recovery so everyone can be safe and warm again,” Gregoire said.

While those in Eastern Washington and North Idaho near Coeur d’Alene were well on the way to recovery from Friday morning’s storm, those in Western Washington were still dealing with significant power outages and damage caused by high winds.

Hundreds of thousands of people were still without power in Western Washington. The storm was the worst in more than a decade, claiming four lives and sending several dozen people to a local hospital after they suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.

Throughout the Puget Sound, homes and businesses remained without power, and traffic slowed to a crawl in many areas because of disabled stoplights.

At the state Emergency Operations Center near Tacoma, spokesman Rob Harper said that about 655,000 Washingtonians remained without power as darkness fell Saturday evening. Temperatures were expected to dip below freezing overnight, prompting Seattle to turn four community centers to temporary shelters.

“We’re trying to really inventory generators and fuel supplies,” Harper said. The goal: to be able to help any of the several Puget Sound hospitals and nursing homes running on backup generators Saturday.

“If there’s a need to help a facility with critical life-care requirements, we’re prepared for a quick turnaround,” Harper said.

Some motorists also had to drive out of their way to find fuel, because gas stations without power had no way to fill up cars.

In Eastern Washington and North Idaho, the majority of Avista customers in the metropolitan areas of Spokane and Coeur d’Alene are likely to have their power restored by this morning, according to Laurine Jue, a spokeswoman for Avista.

Homes in the Spokane metropolitan area were expected to have electricity again Saturday night, but the damage was more extensive than crews had predicted, Jue said. Areas such as Colville, the Palouse, the outskirts of Coeur d’Alene and some parts of Spokane’s South Hill could be without power until Monday.

However, as of 9:30 p.m. Saturday, about 90 percent of Avista’s customers had their power restored, and only 4,800 Avista customers remained in the dark, Jue said.

“Progress may be slower during this phase of the restoration as crews are working in neighborhoods and remote locations affecting smaller blocks of customers,” Avista officials said.

About 1,000 customers of Kootenai Electric remained without power Saturday night in Hauser, Spirit Lake East and in areas south of Coeur d’Alene. Most of these homes were expected to have their electricity restored by the end of the day.

Power outages also continued for customers of Inland Power and Light, particularly in the Blanchard and Newman Lake areas.

Like utility employees, arborists and others in the tree service business remained busy Saturday – pruning branches, hauling toppled trees and cleaning up in the aftermath of the windstorm.

“It was very hectic,” said Rick McIntire, owner of Tall Tree Services. “Some of it was very dangerous work.”

McIntire’s crew of six people ended up doing lots of climbing to remove tree limbs hanging precariously over people’s roofs, he said. After working 16 straight hours, his employees got the rest of Saturday off.

The crew from Arbor Care Tree Service of Spokane also was in high demand after the winds picked up at 4:30 a.m. Friday.

By Saturday afternoon, the four-person team had responded to 14 emergencies – including one tree that crashed just 10 feet away from Zach Hedgpeth’s South Hill home.

The lacerating winds uprooted a ponderosa pine in his yard, sending the 100-year-old tree smashing into the 2007 Honda Civic hybrid parked in his driveway. Hedgpeth awoke at about 4 a.m. to the sound of the car alarm.

“We looked out the window, and we were floored,” said Hedgpeth, who lives near the corner of 26th Avenue and Tekoa. “The wind ripped the tree right out of the ground, and it crushed the car right in the very center.”

The car, which had only 500 miles, was one of several vehicles used by employees at the Department of Ecology. An environmental engineer with the department, Hedgpeth had borrowed the car the previous day for a work-related trip on Friday.

“I was just glad no one was in it and no one was hurt,” he said.

The tree service crew used a machine to lift the tree from the car before cutting it into sections. Part of the 100-foot-long tree had crossed over into the neighbor’s lot and into the street.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” said Brad Baxter, a certified arborist and owner of Arbor Care. “Every tree guy I’ve ever seen is out there working.” The damage was so widespread, he said, that his crew responded to calls all over the South Hill, Newman Lake and Spokane Valley.

As temperatures dipped into the teens Saturday night, some of the more isolated areas in Northern Idaho remained without power.

A Bonners Ferry resident e-mailed The Spokesman-Review from her mother’s home that she was “without power for the (un)foreseeable future,” and planned to use a generator to try to prevent her water pipes from freezing.

Sunday’s high was forecast in the low 20s, according to the National Weather Service.

Northern Lights, Inc., the power company that serves the areas of Bonners Ferry, Athol, Priest Lake, Paradise Valley, Sandpoint and parts of Western Montana endured widespread power outages because of Friday morning’s windstorm, said spokeswoman Elissa Glassman.

About 3,000 customers in North Idaho will be without electricity until late tonight, Glassman said.

Closer to the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane, the storm was already becoming a distant memory for many residents.

The cots were folded up and the Red Cross emergency shelter that opened Friday at Coeur d’Alene High was closed Saturday morning.

Kerren Vollmer, the district director for the Red Cross in North Idaho, said 12 people stayed overnight Friday at the shelter.

Early Saturday afternoon, only Vollmer and one other Red Cross worker remained at the school, along with three residents of Coeur d’Alene’s Tamarack RV park, which was evacuated Friday after several trees blew down.

Ronald Wolfe said he was happy to abandon his home and spend the night at the shelter, away from the trees leaning precariously over his home.

“I did not want to sleep looking up at those trees,” Wolfe said.