It rained cats, dogs at shelter in Bellevue

There was room at this inn for cats and dogs. Folks at The Humane Society for Seattle/King County in Bellevue opened their kennel doors to critters displaced by the windstorm.

The agency usually takes in four or five strays a weekend. After the storm, last weekend's total jumped to more than 30.

"The way the wind was blowing and the trees falling, everyone was panicked, including companion animals," said Brenda Barnette, the society's CEO.

The Humane Society was also without power — twice — during the last week. The staff and volunteers took care of the animals by flashlight.

In the good-story category, one man arrived looking for a beagle who had run away during the storm. A woman on the staff remembered a beagle being turned in as a stray. She went from kennel to kennel with the flashlight until she found the man's dog.

Not all animals hanging out at the shelter are strays. The Humane Society also boards animals for families who go to a human shelter.

"We have an agreement with the local Red Cross that we'll take a family's animals until they can get back into their house," Barnette said. "We had a couple cats that stayed for several weeks after the owners had a house fire."

As of Friday, only two storm boarders remained, a sign to Barnette that life is returning to normal.

Double duty

Woodinville Mayor Cathy Von Wald should be an expert on running shelters — for people — after this week.

Von Wald volunteered at a Woodinville shelter at night. During the day she was in charge of the North Bellevue Community Center shelter. When it isn't an emergency, she manages the Bellevue Community Center.

Reporting in

Bellevue may have reached big-city status in traffic and population, but give the police a high-five. The morning after the storm, officers drove through every neighborhood checking to see if people were OK.

This week they've been dispatched to homes and workplaces in response to frantic telephone calls from worried out-of-area relatives.

"We usually have one to three calls like that a week," said Greg Grannis, public-information officer. "In the last couple days we've made 59 welfare checks."

Another patrol

Police in Redmond also fielded more than 30 welfare-check requests in recent days. Detective Tim Gatley said not all were storm-related.

Officer Nick Lovell checked on a couple in their 80s whose son was worried about them.

Lovell radioed back to dispatch that the couple were fine but he would be busy for a few minutes. He chopped wood for them. In his next radio dispatch, Lovell said he was going shopping. He picked up supplies for the couple stranded by the weather.

Signs of the season

Recently the Port of Seattle folks got national media attention over a Christmas tree/menorah brouhaha. (A rabbi threatened a lawsuit if the Port didn't put up a menorah. The trees were taken down, then put back up.)

Issaquah, however, didn't get even a tip of the publicity hat. But folks there set up a giant menorah near the railroad tracks on Front Street.

Santa's helper

A Woodinville man gained three lovely stepdaughters when he married their mother a few months ago.

The three, still young enough to believe in Santa Claus, have hampered his style a bit in the last week or so. He doubles as a Santa's helper each holiday season.

"I'm having trouble getting dressed in my Santa suit and getting out of the house," he said. "Santa is becoming a quick-change artist."

Sherry Grindeland: 206-515-5633 or sgrindeland@seattletimes.com