Families struggle without power

With tens of thousands of households without power heading into a third straight night, the struggle to stay warm intensified Thursday. “We just feel like we’re living in some sort of nightmare right now,” Melissa Plenty said. “I do worry about not being able to wake up, because I don’t breathe well.” Plenty has a severe case of sleep apnea. She stops and starts breathing while sleeping, and was hospitalized last year. Normally she relies on a CPAP machine that helps her breathe through the night. However, with no power in her North Side home, the machine is useless. Plenty tries to avoid sleeping but she said she’s so exhausted she often can’t help it. Additionally, her husband, Cliff, and 15-year-old daughter, Clara, have a genetic bone disease that causes arthritic swelling and pain. Normally, Cliff and Clara rely on heat blankets and warm showers to ease their pain. “It hurts more when you’re cold,” Cliff said. “Everything tightens up in the cold”/Eli Frankovich, SR. More here.

• Avista, Kootenai Electric crews continue restoring power /Jeff Selle, Coeur d’Alene Press