Lane County residents cope with winter storm, power outages
How is Springfield resident Jason Stewart coping with no power since the weekend?
"Welcome to Oregon," said Stewart, as he pumped gas to keep a generator going at his home.
Some friends loaned Stewart's family the generator, which has allowed them to sustain enough power to use the heater, operate some lights and cook some food.
"It's what we need to do," said Stewart. "Just trying to stay home and be safe."
After the power is back, Stewart said he hopes to develop an emergency kit for future weather-related emergencies. It will include a generator of his own, gas cans, shoe spikes, frost covers for windshields and extra batteries and flashlights, he said, ticking off the list.
Helping others while staying with a friend during power outage
John Whitfield's family lost power at their home in Thurston on Saturday.
When Whitfield, his 3-year-old daughter and his girlfriend returned home Saturday from Fall Creek, there was a tree blocking the road to their place. They trekked back up the mountain and came down on the other side of Fall Creek, making it home about 3 a.m., to find the power out at their house.
"Luckily, I have a fireplace and so I started a fire," said Whitfield. "Got the house living room warm enough to where we could stay there and the next day, seeing that the power hadn't come back on and the house was only getting colder, that's when I decided that we needed to go to a friend's house."
Since then, he has been helping others in the community by doing grocery pickups, car rides, and more.
"There's definitely a lot of people reaching out for help right now. A lot of people are just wanting groceries," Whitfield said. "I've got one guy, he's in Springfield with no power right now, asking if I can take him to Eugene where there's power so he can get warm."
He said the roads are icy and slick, though driving conditions aren't terrible.
"I think the worst part is going to be other people who don't know how to drive in the roads," said Whitfield.
His advice: Stay off the roads if you don't have to be out. Don't try to turn while you're breaking.
"I lived in Montana for a long time," Whitfield said. "I'm pretty used to these conditions; this is just another day for me."
Temperature inside home without power drops to the 20s
Springfield resident Julia Rhodes told the Register-Guard at a local gas station Tuesday before the ice storm arrived that she had not had power for two days and the temperature inside her house had dropped to around 20 degrees.
"It's getting pretty cold," Rhodes said while getting gasoline for her generator. "It was like 20 degrees inside, and I got a little one and I just got to make sure that he stays warm and that we get some lights for tonight."
A 76 gas station was one of the only locations Rhodes said she found that was still in full operation on Tuesday.
"We're hoping to fill up so we can have some heat here in a bit," she said.
Haleigh Kochanski is a breaking news and public safety reporter for The Register-Guard. You may reach her at HKochanski@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Lane County Springfield Eugene residents power outages winter storm
