The inauguration storm occured while I lived in Bellevue Apt. Power was out for a day and a half which I remember welcoming the experience with candles and a battery operated stereo. Now married and in mid November just moving into our first home in Auburn still not quite settled in yet and this 2006 storm comes while getting off work rattling our tall trees and patio furniture, we were forced out with no power and a 30 degree inside temperature. We had to stay with nearby family for a week until power was restored. End result, we survived through the frustrations of all things the storm attempted to take, and we had the oportunity to spend needed time with family that otherwise schedules do not allow.

I felt this last storm was much worse than the inauguration day storm. In the earlier storm, I was without power for 3 days and went to live with a friend. This one has hit so many more people. I have a 2+ bedroom apt. My son didn't get his power back on until the evening of the 23rd. Nine days without power.

He, his wife and two children 2 and 6 stayed with us. A year ago I signed up for the week before Christmas as vacation so that I could spend more time with my family. So watch out for what you ask for, you may get it spades. We all came out very well, and my son has offered to take me in, when I can't live alone anymore. But, I think I’m spending New Year’s at home with just my housemate and set the alarm to wake just before midnight.

We are mixing apples and oranges here. The Columbus Day storm of 1962 had worse wind speeds in many areas of Western Washington. So it was a worse storm. But..population growth had not yet caused the environmental damage and encroachment on forested areas that caused the damage we saw last month. Its like New Orleans; medium-large hurricane but major destruction.

When the inauguration storm hit, I was a school bus driver for South Kitsap School District. It was really scarry that day trying to avoid trees and huge limbs of trees and downed power lines and the wind. It was bad enough but I think that the storms of December and January have outmatched the inauguration day storm. All the rain and flooding of Novembers storms soaked the ground and made even the stoutest of trees weak, so that when our winds came the biggest trees came down with a mighty crash. My family and I were 7 days without power, but we have a generator, and oil lamps and candles. We cook on our woodstove and my husband rents a Porta Potty from a local company to use on his jobs, and that was home, so we almost had all the comforts. This storm in December and January came during the holidays which made it worse for people also because they had planned on traveling or entertaining and they could not. They were frustrated and angry and so that made this whole situation much worse. As a last thought, we have had very mild winter weather the past few years, we really have, and so it is our turn for some good ol' fashioned winter weather. Just think - not too many bugs will survive this either to pester us this summer!!! Decembers storm was worse for damages though I believe.

I grew up in Ohio and until the December storm I had not heard wind blow like that since I had left there. I was truly amazed at the force of this storm and it did seem much worse than the inauguration day storm. I didn't live here for the Columbus day storm. I do want to say thanks to all the utility crews that worked so hard for so many hours to get the power back on.

I am a Washington native and live on Vashon Island and experienced the Columbus Day, Inaugural Day, and the recent Holiday storm.

The Columbus day storm was experienced with my Dad and brother, as we were camped out in the Moses Lake potholes reservoir, for opening day duck hunting. That storm literally blew our tent down and for about two hours, we weighted down and held down our tent so we would not blow away. Very intense for a shorter period of time.

The inaugural day storm was intense for a longer period of time and it came out of the north so it blew more trees down since most have grown with the predominant winds out of the south. We were without power for 4 days.

The recent Holiday storm, combined with the rains it has been more of an inconvenience to us, since we were without power for 8 days. The plus this time, was that after the Inaugural day storm we purchased a generator so we could keep our basement sump pumps operational when we were home.

It is hard to compare these storms since they all had their own unique conditions and results, that made them all memorable, but we realized more during this recent storm the comforts of our lives that we did not have...like hot water.