“We are beyond grateful.” Red Cross, MSB offers much-needed shelter from the storm.

As thousands headed into a second day without power due to the fierce and often pounding winds from the windstorm, along with several fire emergencies, the Red Cross, working with the Mat-Su Borough, offered shelter to those in need.

Initially, a shelter was set up at the Glenn Massay Theater at the Mat-Su College, but it was functioning with only one generator, says Taylar Sausen, Director of Communications for the Red Cross.

The shelter then relocated to the Menard Sports Center in Wasilla capable of accommodating more families needing to get in from the bitter cold, as well as providing shelter for those whose homes were damaged in several fires over the weekend.

Sausen says that currently, the plan is to remain at the Menard until Monday, then reassess as the situation calls for.

One family sought refuge after spending a very chilly night in their Palmer apartments, where the power was out all of Saturday and the room temperatures dipped to 57 degrees inside.

Sarah Vibbert, her husband, and their young son tried to ride out the windstorm in their apartment, but with the power being out, the temperature within dropped, and though they were bundled and huddled together in their living room, it soon became too much for them.

“We were doing things like turning on the gas stove for brief periods, trying to fan it for a little warmth, but eventually the smell of gas got to be too much,” she says. She said they also closed the rooms in the back of the apartment to keep the warmth in one central location, put a blanket over the living room window and under the front door to try and keep the cold at bay and slept overnight together in the living room.

“The wind was blowing in the front door; we could see it blowing and hear it against the windows.” She said the gusts blew some of the siding off of the apartment building, serendipitously named Breezy Meadow.

There was no place open for the family to find a brief respite, to grab a snack, or even walk around, as most businesses in Palmer were closed as the winds kept coming while the linemen at MEA worked throughout the weekend to restore power. She said that when the power would come back on, however briefly, they cranked the heat up to re-warm their home, but the unrelenting winds would inevitably knock the power out.

“It was so cold,” she said fighting back tears. “I thought, ‘I can’t put my baby through this.’ We’re gonna have to do something.”

Sarah says that her mother, who lives in Wasilla, offered them space, but she too had no power, and Sarah says, it was actually colder at her mother’s home.

Compounding the struggle is their son is special needs and did not take to the extra layers of clothing she had dressed him in. “We can’t put him through that. You can only put on so many layers.” When the family learned the MSB had opened up a shelter, she says there was really was no option but to pack up and head for the warmth offered at the Menard.

“We are beyond grateful.” She said the plan was to stay overnight until Monday and pray the power is restored so they can return home. “Our hearts are just so full that there is some place for us.”