Thousands of South Sound homes and businesses were off the grid Thursday, as those without power struggled out of icy side streets to equip themselves with pressed-wood logs, groceries and candles wherever they could find businesses open.
Worried about how long electronic devices would stay charged without juice, some were prepared to rev up their car engines and plug cellphone chargers into their cars.
In Spanaway, power went out at Lysa Marquardt’s house about midday. Her son, Jake, and family friend, Dellun Hipple, both 13, spent some time reading during the storm-induced school holiday, then decided to rearrange the furniture for fun.
“I thought we would sneak by this time,” Marquardt said, noting that during the last big ice storm several years ago her neighborhood off 176th Street East was without electricity for five days. So many nearby trees came down in that storm, she thought perhaps she would be safe this time.
On Thursday – about an hour after the power shut off – Marquardt was still trying to get through on her cellphone to Puget Sound Energy, but having no luck. The utility’s phone lines were jammed. At least this time around, Marquardt had two new gas fireplaces to keep her family warm.
Power outages and cabin fever made for a good day at Anglea’s, a venerable neighborhood restaurant at 7511 Portland Ave. E. Many of the homes south of it were without power, and residents drove the slushy streets or walked through the deep, crunchy snow toward a hearty breakfast.
The restaurant itself had power, and owner John Fraizer had the foresight to stock up for the rush.
“We’re ready,” he said. “I anticipated the weather, and you know how people get cabin fever.”
Ken Sleveland spent the day in his home office in Spanaway, working by window light. Even though he’s the boss of an electrical contracting company – Alltech Electric – he was as powerless as the rest of his Spanaway neighbors when the storm pulled the plug.
Across the street from Sleveland, Odell DeVeaux was worrying about his tropical fish. In the last big power outage, he lost fish. This time, he was prepared to get out a thermal wrap for his fish tank if the outage was prolonged.
As soon as her lights went out on South Hill, teacher Tina Nelson headed for the Starbucks on Meridian, where the power was still on and the coffee was flowing. Thursday afternoon, she was out exploring with her dog Rosie, who was having a hard time managing deep snow drifts with her stubby corgi legs.
Her neighbor, Mac McKinnon, warmed up by cleaning ice from his driveway.
He took administrative leave from his civilian job at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
“If there’s no need to go out, it’s not worth it,” he said.
But some workers decided to brave the storm and report to work.
Molly Cortinas walked from downtown Puyallup with her daughter Naomi Demmings to get to mom’s job at a McDonald’s on Meridian. Cortinas started work at 5 a.m. and was supposed to leave at 9 but wound up staying long after lunch. Since the McDonald’s had power, and many surrounding homes did not, the restaurant got busy, Cortinas said.
Demmings, a graduate student at the University of Washington Tacoma, spent the day at McDonald’s studying.
Staff writer Kathleen Merryman contributed to this report.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635 debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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