"Hope came back" when lights came on in Duvall

About 300 tired, hungry people jammed into the Duvall Church on Wednesday to feast on free barbecue, cookies and drinks. They were cold and frustrated — until about 5 p.m.

The lights along Main Street came back on in a flash, the town's first surge of power in six days, and the room erupted.

"All of a sudden, there was buzzing and excitement," Associate Pastor John Olson said. "Hope came back."

"When grown men are crying," said volunteer Laurie Gilbertson, "... you know it's really serious."

The Duvall-Woodinville area was the region's worst-hit spot after last week's windstorm, and while some residents were overjoyed Thursday to have power back, most people still in the dark were going about their business with good-natured weariness.

Crews are still piecing together the power grid from the ground up; homes east of Cottage Lake may not have power until Christmas Day; and those east of Duvall may have to wait until Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon, Tom Auberry and his wife had a pot of water heating on their woodstove, and the thermometer in their living room read 74.3 degrees. Their two Great Danes had cozy mattresses, and a generator powered the lights and most appliances in their home off Cherry Valley Road.

But with no gas heat or range, Auberry, 52, can shave and take showers only every few days. "The novelty of house-camping is beginning to wear thin," he said.

Mick Boyle, 45, sleeps on an L-shaped couch with his two children, next to the woodstove in the middle of the room.

Eleven-year-old Mickey gathered wood for his father, while 9-year-old Mary Francis helped watch over the cat and dog on the family's seven acres on Big Rock Road.

It's a pain to trek over to Gold's Gym in Redmond for showers, family members said.

Though with a generator, they've had enough time together to watch the extended editions of all three "Lord of the Rings" movies.

Their only hot water and most of their meals came from a microwave. The pot stickers were particularly bad, according to Mickey. "They were so nasty."

Not everyone was waiting it out calmly.

Gaye Lukrofka, 62, who lives east of Woodinville, said Puget Sound Energy (PSE) should have paid to put the utility lines underground years ago and was taking too long to clear Woodinville-Duvall Road.

"They knew this was coming," she said. "It's worse than negligence."

PSE spokeswoman Martha Monfried said crews are working long shifts to fix downed lines and made good progress Thursday in the Snoqualmie Valley. PSE focused early on easier repairs to bring power back to more people, she said.

Underground lines cost four times more than above-ground lines, making conversion too expensive for the company, Monfried said. "We'll work with anyone who wants to do it," she said, "but they're going to have to pay for it."

For hundreds of residents, the power outage may last into the holidays. In the Lake Margaret area east of Duvall, Dave Jorgensen, 62, was hunkered down with his wife and 82-year-old mother-in-law.

His septic tank was full until a neighbor loaned him a generator to get the pump working. And a lack of showering makes him "feel like a crud," he said.

When a friend pulled up to tell him power might not return until Wednesday, he re-evaluated his options for Christmas Day.

"We're going to have to find a restaurant that's open," Jorgensen said. "It's going to be a quiet holiday."

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com