Some 13,000 homes still without power on the Peninsula after storm
Over 10,000 homes still without power on the Peninsula after storm
After the latest atmospheric river hit the Peninsula with winds of up to 70 mph, thousands of people were left without power overnight. As of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 19,744 customers on the Peninsula were waiting for their power to be restored, 6,700 of them in Pacifica.
WOODSIDE, Calif. - The Peninsula is still feeling the impact of Tuesday’s storm with more than 13,000 homes still without power on Wednesday.
"We’ve been out of power here probably since 11 am. I got a text from PG&E that said it wasn’t going to be on until 11 tomorrow night," said Megan Barrera, of Pacifica.
After the latest atmospheric river hit the Peninsula with winds of up to 70 mph, thousands of people were left without power overnight. As of 9:45 p.m. on Wednesday, 13,247 Pacific Gas and Electric customers on the Peninsula were waiting for their power to be restored, with a little over 10% of them in Pacifica.
"First and foremost, we know this has had such an impact on the Peninsula. These customers here have really seen the brunt of these storms because of this heavy vegetation that we have, this beautiful vegetation, but it really has impacted power," said Tamar Sarkissian, PG&E spokesperson.
PG&E says they have about 6,000 crews responding to storm recovery. Strong winds and heavy rain brought down dozens of trees and power lines in the Bay Area. In Woodside, about 1,500 customers were without power Wednesday, including Roberts Market in downtown Woodside.
RELATED: Fallen trees and debris removal hampers PG&E restoration efforts
"Trying to keep the doors open as best as possible. It went down yesterday at about a quarter ‘til two. So, we tried to save all the frozen goods as much as we could. Today it’s still not up, so we put a lot of stuff in the back freezer, and it worked fine…we try to keep the doors open, so people can at least get something," said Michael Sodja, a staff member at Roberts Market.
PG&E says 78% of customers usually have power restored within 12 hours and long outage periods are due to challenges in gaining access to power lines.
They say Tuesday’s storm was the 14th major weather event since the beginning of the year. They advise people to take precautions and be ready for whatever may come next.
"Probably the most important message is just making sure if you see lower downed power lines, always assume they’re live. Keep yourself and others away and call 911 and PG&E immediately," said Sarkissian.
PG&E also says there could be live power lines underneath trees, so it’s best not to touch downed trees as well. The company says they hope to have most of the power on the Peninsula restored by Wednesday night.