KING

Power restoration is a slow and dangerous process.

SEATTLE - After the worst windstorm in more than a decade knocked out power to more than a million people and claimed four lives, Western Washington struggled to clean up and stay warm.

Hundreds of thousands of people may be without power for several days. As of Saturday evening, Puget Sound Energy said 320,000 of its homes don't have electricity and Seattle City Light reported 47,600 homes don't have power, down from 175,000 customers at the height of the storm.

At its peak the storm knocked out power to more than a million people in Western Washington.

Snohomish County PUD is working to restore service to 12,000 homes.

It would be "several days -- definitely through the weekend," before everyone was restored, PSE spokeswoman Martha Monfried said.

Suzanne Hartman of Seattle City Light said residents should expect to recover power by Monday.

In Woodinville, some people have no choice but to stay home and wait it out because they're physically trapped by trees and power lines.

Meanwhile in Bellevue, a guest in a house tried to get the fireplace going but wound up setting a home on fire. Firefighters said the man used gasoline to ignite some wet wood in a fireplace. Instead, the basement caught fire in the house on Southeast 21st place. The guest escaped the burning house but went back inside to try and save four cats and a dog. The dog survived but three of the cats died and another is missing. The man has minor burns.

KING

The guest escaped this burning house in Bellevue but three cats died and another is missing.

On the Oregon Coast, an elderly couple died after using candles when their power went out.

The state fire marshal says candles started a fire in their home which ended up taking both of their lives. Their home in Seaside lost power during the storm, and like so many people they were using candles as a source of light.

Investigators say the couple did not have smoke alarms in their house.

While large areas of Bellevue remained without power Saturday morning, the central business district was operating normally. Major retailers were open and traffic lights appeared to be functioning in nearly all major intersections leading in and out of downtown.

Extra crews were being called in from as far away as Kansas, Monfried said.

One of the hardest-hit area was King County, which includes Seattle, where drenching rain accompanied the first wallop as the storm hit Thursday afternoon, slowing commuters to a crawl. The winds picked up again around midnight, and moved into Eastern Washington later Friday, toppling trees and cutting power to thousands of people in the Inland Northwest. In Spokane, wind gusts reached 54 miles per hour.

Winds were clocked in the 80s along the Strait of Juan de Fuca leading inland toward Seattle, 74 mph at the Hood Canal floating bridge, which links the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas, and 63 mph at the Evergreen Point floating bridge, one of two linking Seattle with the suburbs east of Lake Washington.

Temperatures in the region are expected to drop into the 20s and lower 30s by Saturday night. The chance of rain or snow had diminished throughout most of the area, and temperatures will gradually increase through Sunday night, with Monday's highs returning to the 40s, said Johnny Burg, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle.

Scott Thorsteinson

A viewer sent this shot of six large trees on a house in the Lake Tapps - Bonney Lake area.

"For some people that might not be much but it's definitely better than staying in the deep freeze," Burg said.

State of emergency

Gov. Chris Gregoire declared a state of emergency Friday, and with temperatures expected to drop in the region this weekend, officials warned people not to use outdoor grills, propane heaters or other carbon-monoxide-producing equipment indoors.

Still, firefighters in south suburban Kent found 33 people from four families suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning Friday night and transported them to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, fire Capt. Kyle Ohashi said. None was in critical condition.

The victims had brought their barbecues inside to cook food or heat their apartments as temperatures dipped into the 30s.

It may be days before Western Washington recovers from the storm that claimed four lives and closed major bridges.

The state of emergency covers 17 counties: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum and Whatcom.

Four dead

Two people died from falling trees in Pierce County. In the first incident, a driver who tried to avoid a fallen tree by making an evasive maneuver hit another tree. An hour later, a falling tree struck a pickup truck, killing a woman and severely injuring a man who is in critical condition at Madigan Army Medical Center.

In Grays Harbor County, the McCleary Fire Department said a 28-year-old man was crushed while he slept when the top of a tree snapped off in the wind around midnight and crashed into his trailer home.

In Seattle's Madrona neighborhood, 6 feet of water trapped Kate Fleming, 41, inside a windowless basement room. Fire department divers found the woman who had been underwater for eight minutes. She was taken to Harborview Medical Center where she later died.

Shelters

For temporary shelters in Seattle, call 1-866-4CRISIS.

Red Cross has opened a shelter at Oak Harbor's senior citizen center for anyone who needs help.

Two shelters also opened Friday night in Bellevue - one at the North Bellevue Community Center on 148th Ave. NE, and the other at Bellevue High School just off Bellevue Way.

The Red Cross also opened an emergency shelter at the Bonney Lake Senior Center next to Bonney Lake City Hall.

In Seattle:

- Bitter Lake Community Center, 13035 Lynden Ave North

- Delridge Community Center, 4501 Delridge Way SW

- Rainier Community Center, 4600 38th Ave S.

- SW Community Center, 2801 Sw Thistle St

 There is additional shelter space available for the homeless through Operation Night Watch in downtown Seattle at City Hall, 600 5th Ave. and the Fry Hotel at 1425 4th Ave.

Helpful tips

The City of Bellevue provided the following tips for those affected by the storm:

- Check on your neighbors, relatives and friends that may have limited means to care for themselves. Lacking power, the risks to the elderly increase greatly. If your relatives live alone, call or visit them if you can do so safely. Walk next door to your neighbor and see if they are ok. If they need assistance, help them find a shelter with electricity for the night. With the resources available, there are many opportunities to help keep at-risk residents warm and safe.

- Ask for help. Don't put it off too long out of pride. If you are in a high risk category due to age, disability, illness or any other reason, call someone and let them know if you are concerned about your ability to care for yourself.

- Pitch in. If you have the skills and tools to do so safely, do what you can to clear your property of debris and waste. This allows relief crews to move on to more serious problems, which in turn will speed the return of power and critical function to affected areas. If you can, help your surrounding neighbors do the same.

- Dispose of debris appropriately. There is a burn ban in effect in Bellevue, and burning yard waste is not only illegal, but potentially dangerous. With Fire and Rescue personnel spread thin, a yard waste fire that gets out of control stretches their ability to respond that much further.

- Stay home unless absolutely necessary. The biggest limitation in the return of services is the traffic congestion preventing power provider crews from getting to the affected areas, reducing response time by as much as 50 percent.