Still no power for some West Siders after storm

SEATTLE – As power utilities brought in crews from as far away as Missouri and Wyoming to rebuild transmission systems devastated by last week’s wind storm, some Western Washington residents – frustrated after five days in the dark – were hoping to have their power back by the holidays.

It wasn’t looking likely for Eileen Shields and the residents of about 200 other homes in Upper Preston, a rural enclave in the Cascade foothills 25 miles east of Seattle. The neighborhood was a low priority for Puget Sound Energy crews.

“They’re telling us we’re the last on the list,” Shields said Tuesday night. “No showers, no water, no power. I’ve been having to take 55-gallon drums down to the grange (feed store) to get water for my horses. I’m on overload.”

Across the region about 180,000 utility customers remained without power, and the restoration was slow going.

Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility, said repairs in some of the hardest-hit areas would require working through the weekend.

Twelve Washington state deaths have been attributed to the storm, including people who were crushed by falling trees, stepped on downed power lines or were trapped by rising water. Four members of a Burien family were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning Monday; one survivor improved from critical to serious condition Tuesday.

In east suburban Bellevue, crews called in from Wyoming and Montana worked on a tangle of downed power lines Tuesday near the shore of Lake Sammamish.