ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Several thousand people are still without power as utility crews work to get the last remaining outages restored in western Washington. It has improved much from last week, but not everyone is clear just yet, including those on the east side.
“It looked like a war zone down there,” said Milicent Savage.
Despite what appears to be a dark situation, there are still some looking on the bright side.
"Chainsaws are the happiest sounds,” said Savage. “We talked about taking that tree down, so God took care of that. But he didn't take mine, which needed to come down, too. Anyway, maybe he's playing favorites."
Savage has been living off Juniper and 7th in Issaquah for more than two decades.
"This is a first for me, and I've been around for a long time,” said Savage.
She's never been without power for this long. Monday marks day six. She was one of more than 400 people impacted by this outage in this neighborhood, according to the Puget Sound Energy outage map, including nearby Issaquah Valley Elementary, which was closed Monday. This area was one of a handful of pockets on the Eastside that is still in the dark.
“It's been difficult, but we luckily didn't have any damage to our house; other people haven't been that lucky," said Annelise Pace, who also lives in the neighborhood.
Luck, these neighbors aren't taking for granted as they share their appreciation for the utility crews working to turn the lights back on.
"But they're doing so much work and just thank you to all the crews,” said Pace.
"Everyone's doing a good job, the power companies and everything,” said Pace. “I don't know why we're down on the list but I think they have a plan, so I don't have a problem with that."
Officials with PSE hope to have all power restored by Tuesday afternoon.
King County is waiving all yard waste fees at certain transfer stations. Residents can drop it off at Bow Lake, Cedar Falls, Enumclaw, Factoria, Shoreline, and Vashon facilities. The free service is only for wood debris from the storm. Stumps, logs and tree limbs less than six feet long are allowed.