MADELEINE BRAND, host:
This is DAY TO DAY from NPR News. I'm Madeleine Brand.
ALEX CHADWICK, host:
I'm Alex Chadwick.
In Washington State, folks are still without power, five days after a huge windstorm blasted the region. Local utilities say they have never seen anything like this. Crews are working, but still a lot of people are cold.
NPR's Luke Burbank has this report.
LUKE BURBANK: Charles Cassie(ph) has been through a fair amount in his life. He's a Vietnam vet, even got injured over there. But he says his experience last Thursday night at his home in Redmond, Washington - just east of Seattle -was as memorable as anything he's been through.
Mr. CHARLES CASSIE: The scene was chaos. No lights, no heat, no nothing. You can't get even water, really.
BURBANK: Cassie stayed in his van with the engine running - that is until the wind nearly tipped it over. He ended up at a Red Cross shelter, where he's been living on a cot for five nights. Cassie is one of about 200,000 people in western Washington still coping without power.
Ms. DOROTHY BRACKEN (Puget Sound Energy): First thing we had to do is get those power lines, the transmission lines, back in service so we could bring the power to the region.
BURBANK: Dorothy Bracken is a spokesperson for Puget Sound Energy. She says the outages traced all the way back to the snowy mountains of Washington, where hydroelectric dams and transmission stations are.
Ms. BRACKEN: We had to find snow equipment that allowed our crews to get into the backcountry areas where the transmission lines are to get the repairs.
BURBANK: That took some time. And down in the lower-lying areas, the windstorm couldn't have come at a worse time. November was almost the rainiest month in Seattle history. This is Seattle we're talking about, people. That softened the soil, which meant lots of huge trees were just waiting to fall over onto power lines.
Ms. BRACKEN: They pulled down the poles. They're damaged then smashed. It's not just a matter of putting up the equipment that's fallen down. We are rebuilding our electric system.
BURBANK: People have been making do by staying with family, braving it at their homes with barbeques and camp stoves in hand, and when they can get in, using hotel rooms. Danny Rogers manages the Red Lion Hotel in Bellevue.
Mr. DANNY ROGERS (Manager, Red Lion Hotel): Our switchboard just lit up and went crazy, and we could have sold a thousand rooms.
BURBANK: Charles Cassie couldn't get into the Red Lion. Instead, it was the Red Cross for him. Even so, he says they've been taking good care of him.
Mr. CASSIE: Well, they've got everything for us here. We have facilities for a weight room. We got a kitchen. We got basketball courts.
CHADWICK: It doesn't sound like you're having such a bad time there, Mr. Cassie. I mean, are you thinking about just staying right through the weekend, even if your power does come back on?
Mr. CASSIE: No. No. No. No. No. No. No. If I get - as soon as I'm on, I'm out. You know, I mean I love it and I appreciate them, but I got to go.
BURBANK: Officials are bracing for a new - although fortunately, more mild storm - expected to hit the area tomorrow.
Luke Burbank, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
