Day 2 in the dark: Madera Co. residents wait for power to be restored

OAKHURST, Calif. (KFSN) -- An oxygen machine makes the days and nights easier for Kim Rose, but when PG&E shut off electricity to her senior mobile home community, she lost her lifeline.

"The power happened to go out while I was using it, so it was a little startling," Rose said.

Without oxygen, she struggled to sleep, and the pain from her fibromyalgia got worse as the home cooled down.

"It's been tough. I mean, days are tough anyway, so I don't want to make it sound like everything is caused by this. It just makes it a little bit tougher for me," she said.

Monica McClanahan had a cozy fire burning when the power turned off, but she couldn't keep it burning all night long.

"It was very cold. I woke up very, very cold, as I said. My feet were frozen," she said.

The former bookstore owner is missing her TV, and without refrigeration, she went into town looking for food. She found mostly a ghost town.

LIST: PG&E power shutoffs affect areas in Mariposa, Madera, Fresno counties

The Raleys grocery store is open and selling critical supplies like water and medication.

But employees needed headlights to clean the emptied meat bins, and the frozen food aisles are all empty until the electricity comes back.

Most shops are closed in Oakhurst and Coarsegold, where a Shell station using generator power is the most popular spot.

One customer pushed her SUV into the lot to save the last gas she had.

"It's been pretty crazy for the last 24 hours," said Summer Blied.

PG&E crews inspected power lines for damage all day as they decided when to restore electricity.

And while the company confirmed Mariposa County would not be affected in the next scheduled power shutoff on October 29, McClanahan is going to stay prepared.

"I'm going to get a generator, and that way I won't ever have to worry about it. Won't ever happen again," she said.

Some people say generators are just too expensive for them. They also note they haven't seen much wind up here, so they're curious about why they had to lose power for their own protection.

PG&E reported 339,000 customers have had power restored statewide.