California Braces for More Power Outages as Storm System Heads East
Power outages have become a common occurrence across the Bay Area, with over 275,000 PG&E customers without electricity as of Tuesday afternoon. The outages primarily affected the South Bay and East Bay, with San Mateo County having over 64,000 customers without power and projected that 60% of the outages would be fixed in approximately one day.[0] 7,787 additional customers in the San Francisco and North Bay areas were left without electricity.[1]
As of Wednesday morning, 128,363 customers in the South Bay, 68,196 in the East Bay and 53,958 on the Peninsula were still without power.[2] Students in the Campbell Union High School District, Campbell Union Elementary School District, Cupertino Union School District, and Los Gatos Union School District were also forced to close Wednesday due to the outages.[3]
Many customers were also without power due to trees falling due to the strong winds. Michelle Keith said, “I want to cry, but what’s crying going to do? It’s just sad, so sad.”[4] A high wind warning was in effect across the Bay Area through 11 p.m.[0] Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service, with wind gusts of 50 mph and above felt in the valleys and topping 70 mph along the coast and hills above 1,000 feet.[5]
In Los Altos, PG&E says that at least 21,684 customers are still without power. They have estimated that power should be restored in the area by Thursday, March 16 at 10PM.[6] In Sunnyvale, more than 7,000 customers lost power in the afternoon on March 14, but the outage map showed it to be cleared by the following morning.[7]
In Berkeley, police say motorists should avoid the 2900 block of Dwight Way east of Hillside Avenue due to a fallen tree that took down powerlines. The University of California, Berkeley cautioned individuals to stay clear of the Dwight Way and Hillside Avenue intersection in the vicinity of the Clark Kerr campus, as a fallen tree caused a power line to come down. Police are asking drivers to steer clear of Ralston Avenue at Davis Drive in Belmont due to a fallen tree obstructing the roadway.[8]
The storm system that’s hammered California this week is heading east, dousing the state with more torrential rain and knocking out power with ferocious winds.[4] Governor of
0. “Fallen trees cause power outages for thousands of Palo Alto Utilities customers” Palo Alto Online, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2023/03/14/tree-hits-power-line-causing-power-outage-for-1800-palo-alto-utilities-customers
1. “PG&E outages affect nearly 260000 in Bay Area – Silicon Valley Business Journal” The Business Journals, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2023/03/14/pge-outages-cause-thousands-to-lose-power.html
2. “More than 9,000 in South County lose power due to storm” Morgan Hill Times, 14 Mar. 2023, https://morganhilltimes.com/more-than-9000-in-south-county-lose-power-due-to-storm/
3. “Schools Closed in Bay Area Due to Ongoing Power Outages” NBC Bay Area, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/schools-close-in-south-bay/3181263/
4. “100000 Californians still have no power as storms whip hurricane-force winds, flood homes and threaten 25 million …” kwwl.com, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.kwwl.com/news/national/100-000-californians-still-have-no-power-as-storms-whip-hurricane-force-winds-flood-homes/article_31489f85-0e8f-5188-9636-3edb108f0d3c.html
5. “Update: High winds topple trees, tip over big rigs, blow out windows of SF skyscraper” CBS News, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/high-winds-blow-down-trees-power-lines-across-the-bay-area/
6. “Power returns to most of Mountain View, but pockets without electricity persist” Mountain View Voice, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.mv-voice.com/news/2023/03/14/peninsula-cities-pummeled-by-weather-induced-power-outages
7. “Power at Menlo Park schools still out as weather-induced outages continue into Thursday” The Almanac Online, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.almanacnews.com/news/show_story.php?id=34067
8. “Trees and power lines ‘falling left and right' wreak havoc on Bay Area roadways” KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.ktvu.com/news/downed-trees-and-power-lines-falling-left-and-right-wreak-havoc-on-bay-area-roadways
