It's been three days, and it's still a mess. I live south of Olympia (the capital), and there is more power still off than on. I was one of the lucky ones, and didn't lose it for long, just have slower dialup. Driving home from work last night, the areas with and without power were oddly patchwork. The local grocery store is still running on a generator, but the store across the street and all the ones I could see down that way have power.

There are three restauants in town, and all are packed, even after usual closing time. Two have power and one is working on generators & propane. The mobile home park across the street is still dark. I can hear a couple of generators.

Trees and poles and power lines are down like tinker toys and spaghetti all along the roads. All that has been done is to drag them off the pavement.

Estimates of repair from the power company range from one to three weeks.

The temps have dropped to the twenties at night. Many, many people here have pellet stoves, with electric fans. The people who have wood stove heat have people sleeping on their floors and glad to be there.

There is not a single generator for sale in the state of WA. Most of the stores have been stripped of Coleman fuel, camping stoves, flashlights, etc. Since shipping is not a problem, most of the stores still have some bottled water, but there are large bare spaces on the shelves.

I'm afraid that we are going to have reports of people starting fires with candles, and asphixiations with the (improper) indoor use of propane and kerosene. There has already been one instance of an idiot trying to start a fire in his fireplace with gasoline. He and the dog got out, but the four cats died.

Sue