TWAIN HARTE, Calif. — With power out since Tuesday, retired elementary school teacher Sharon Jacobsen has no heat for her home.
To survive, she covers up in layers with a Mylar blanket and any other blanket she can find. On top of that, she uses a bean bag to keep her hands warm with what little gas she has left on a propane powered stove.
"I try to cover up and I've just done that because my feet will get to the point where they're going to snap off," said Jacobsen, at the front door of her home.
Jacobsen's home is surrounded by several feet of snow. Her car is covered in snow too. But Pete Renois volunteered to dig Sharon Jacobsen out.
"She just can't get out. She's an elderly lady and she needs some help, so I'm going to dig her out," said Renois.
In some neighborhoods in Twain Harte, power is off on one side of the street and off on the other. That's the case for Richard and Angela Vandegrift.
Residents here for nearly four decades, no power means relying on their fireplace and a propane stove.
"This is the most I have ever seen in that short of period," said Richard Vandegrift.
"I say, this is what the Donner Party must have run into," added his wife Angela.
Since Tuesday, Twain Harte has had close to three feet of snow.
Tyler McGowan has no power too, but an optimistic attitude.
"I love it. I mean it's crazy, but I've never seen this much," said McGowan.
Some businesses like The Rock pub and restaurant have had no power outages giving residents a place to escape and relax.
"We have enough product to keep us open. We're starting to run a little low on beer though," said a smiling Diane Dunigan, owner of The Rock.
Meantime, back at Sharon Jacobsen's home, Pete Renois finished shoveling a path out and even brought with him a generator.
Power is slowly getting restored in Twain Harte, although the PG&E outage map online still shows hundreds are still in the dark.
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