Tales from the dark side: East Renton residents share their power outage stories

Nearly a week after the Nov. 19 “bomb cyclone” windstorm that left 474,032 Puget Sound Energy (PSE) customers without power, many people in Renton are still affected by the loss of power — and are waiting in the dark.

As of 2:55 p.m. Monday, Nov. 25, the PSE Outage Map says that there are 316 outages and 6,779 customers who are impacted. Here are some stories from Rentonites who are among those thousands.

Three tired firemen

Debra Jestila Mikolaizik, 68, lives in the Summerwind neighborhood of the Renton Highlands and said that her home had been without power for four days. Her husband, Chuck Uhl, 64, who uses a lift chair and a wheelchair, had gotten chemotherapy at an infusion center only nine hours before the power went out on that first day.

“He woke during the night miserable and couldn’t get out of his chair. I tried to help, but I’ve ruined my shoulder with his falls and hefting his 40-pound wheelchair in and out of his vehicle for over a year,” Mikolaizik said. She added that her husband had become nauseous that night and that 911 was called for assistance.

“He called FD Cares/911 and three tired firemen (busy night for them) came and got him in his wheelchair. Such a blessing!” she said in a private Facebook message. Mikolaizik said they were able to use a gas heater and that her husband’s cousin had come to their house with a Jackery portable charger to power his lift chair.

“Made me think about all the other people dealing with medical equipment keeping them alive,” she said.

How’s that for a welcome

Tony Trudeau, 41, had only moved from Olympia to Renton two weeks before the storm. He, his wife, their 6-year-old and 3-year-old ended up spending several nights in a hotel because their house was too cold without electricity.

”It’s been rough. We were not prepared and never had the power out so long. We lost all the food in our fridge, and then the power came back [Saturday]. We bought groceries only to have the power go out again [that] night! I had to scramble at 1 a.m. to go to a 7-Eleven to buy ice to pack our fridge and hope for the best. Now I have this constant fear the power is just going to go out again and toss our lives into disarray,” he said in an email.

Trudeau said having the two kids and a dog has made the days without power very stressful and that he has scheduled for a generator plug to be installed in their home “so we never have to go through this again.”

Radio Gaga

For Anna Sanchez, 33, her power had gone out at 7:30 p.m. the night of the storm and didn’t return until 10:30 a.m. Monday, Nov. 25. She told the Renton Reporter that nearly a week without power in the Emerald Crest neighborhood had been “cold and boring, with an underlying sense of calm introspection.”

Sanchez, like many others throughout Renton had lost cellphone service. She said she would get some messages over 10 hours after they were sent.

“My home was stone cold, so I mostly sat with my cat, keeping each other warm and reading books for work and fun,” she said, remembering the morning after she had lost power. “I checked on my neighbor to make sure she was warm enough and had the help she needed. I brought an extra power bank to help her charge her phone, and she gave me candy to help charge my spirits.”

By Thursday, she had found an old emergency receiver radio and said that she felt better with some chatter and music playing. She had figured out how to make cold meals and had done a lot of reading to pass the time, and even practiced her juggling. On Friday, she was emptying her fridge when the power came back on, but only momentarily.

On Saturday, she was able to recharge her devices at a friend’s house and arranged to have a hot shower there on Sunday.

”They sent me home with candy, a battery-powered water boiler already full of a serving of hot water and an indoor-safe kerosene space heater. I lit that puppy up in my living room and had a very cozy time indeed,” Sanchez said of her Saturday night. On Sunday, she was able to meet with her brother for dinner and play some games.

”Now I look forward to sleep, and hopefully waking up to some electricity,” Sanchez said in her Sunday email. “But I’ll probably keep lighting candles and listening to the radio more often. Those were a nice comfort that I’ll look forward to enjoying any time.”

Lean on those around you

Michelle Myre lives in Maple Hills, and by the time she had emailed the Renton Reporter on Sunday night, her power had been out for six days. Myre said she had lost her two greenhouses and a few food items from her freezer in the aftermath of the storm, but that “we’ve been minorly inconvenienced in the whole grand scheme of things.”

“Some dear neighbors and many around the area have undergone tremendous upheaval with the total loss of their homes, and we’ve rallied around them,” she said in the email. “My neighborhood is truly the best hood around. We have a Chainsaw Brigade and [an] active Facebook page where those in need feel free to ask for help, and those who are in abundance offer to share. I love it here. Even when the power is out for a week, we keep each other lifted up and cared for.”