By DUANE SCHRAG

Salina Journal

For Daryl Cleveland, the reaction he gets when he stops at a house that has no power makes the volunteering worth it.

"It's very rewarding, seeing the appreciation on their faces and in their voice," said Cleveland, 56, a retired postmaster from Odebolt, Iowa. "It makes your mission worthwhile."

All day Monday, Cleveland was teamed with another Red Cross volunteer -- Chuck Scripter, 71, North Platte, Neb. -- as the two drove all over Saline and Dickinson counties in search of people without power or otherwise stranded by the storm.

As of 4:45 p.m. Monday, Westar was reporting that 1,137 households in Saline County another 284 in Dickinson County were still without power. The Red Cross was still operating feeding centers in Salina and Abilene, said Victoria Degand, executive director of the North Central Kansas Chapter, Salina.

Today's forecast calls for calls for patchy freezing fog before 9 a.m. The high will be near 39, with tonight's low at about 21. Wednesday and Thursday should be partly sunny, with a high near 43.

However, by Friday evening, there is a chance of snow and a low of about 25.

Trying to pinpoint homes

With the transmission and feeder lines nearly all in service, the main task for utilities is to pinpoint the homes that still don't have power. Cleveland and Scripter have spent recent days looking for people who need help. Folks are sometimes reluctant to ask for it.

Cleveland said people will "sit in the cold, without electricity."

"In the Midwest, you're working with resilient people," agreed Scripter, who worked for Northwest Bell Telephone company before he retired.

The pair are hauling a supply of meals, the modern version of the battlefield rations pioneered during World War II. Simply squeeze and shake the plastic bag, give it a little time, open it up and, voila, a serving of beef stroganoff.

Scripter said that even stoic Midwesterners cheer up when helps shows up at the door.

"When they see any type of help, it brings them hope -- they are not alone," he said.

Looking for loose lines

They spent much of Monday driving streets and alleys, looking for telltale signs that power lines had been pulled loose. They work as a team, Cleveland at the wheel, Scripter with a clipboard and sheet to record the address and degree of damage.

"You can tell they're power lines because they are kind of twisted," Cleveland said.

"See that power line?" Scripter said, prompting Cleveland to stop in the 300 block of South Eighth Street. "That's been pulled away."

Scripter wrote down the address. If that person asks Red Cross for assistance, the organization has a record of the damage, he explained.

"You've got a lot of nice older homes," he comments as the duo rolled down a side-street.

The pair have received disaster assessment training. Often it is volunteers like themselves who are among the first to venture out after tornadoes, hurricanes and other major storms.

"We're kind of like scouts," Cleveland said.

n Reporter Duane Schrag can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at dschrag@salina.com.

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