Bay Area cleans up after storm topples trees, causes widespread outages
SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco, like most of the Bay Area, is drying out and surveying the damage after this past weekend's windy storm caused a lot of problems.
The city battled power outages and downed trees following this latest storm.
A tree on Dolores Terrace in San Francisco's Mission District was just one of the 300 or so incidents reported during and after this weekend's storm.
Duncan McNaughton said it hadn't been properly trimmed for years now, and he watched it come down Sunday night. "We've been looking at this tree, you know, for a decade," said McNaughton. "Waiting. Waiting. Knew it was going to happen. But the way it came down, just doing any serious damage to the place."
San Francisco's Department of Public Works says there were about two dozen major incidents with trees blocking roads or dragging down power lines. Another tree in the Excelsior District came crashing down onto a car, crews said the power lines it dragged down were still energized.
Denman Middle School was closed on Monday after losing power.
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Punishing weather across California killed a person in Santa Cruz County, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people and felled trees in water-logged cities from Santa Rosa to Santa Barbara.
The city's Department of Emergency Management said fortunately there were no reports of deaths or injuries from this past weekend's storm, but in cases like this, where a tree or limb poses a clear risk, call 911.
"If a human is in trouble, if it's a life safety issue, we want you to call 911 and if it's just storm related, 311 is good," said Mary Ellen Carroll from San Francisco's Department of Emergency Management.
Public Works said this past weekend was busy with crews working through the day and night to remove trees that blocked roads or posed a hazard. "Yes, this was all hands on deck," said Carla Short from San Francisco's Department of Public Works. "We had crews working around the clock as the mayor noted, we also had two contractors working with us."
San Francisco's Mayor London Breed was on hand to check out the damage for herself, and said this past weekend, crews worked hard and pulled together to meet the moment. "I think that the people of San Francisco as well as our city workforce really stepped up and responded to the occasion," said Mayor Breed.
San Francisco's Department of Public Works said last year's harsh weather knocked down a lot of the weaker trees, so we didn't see as many come down this year as last.
Public Works said they've also been working throughout the past year to prune those trees, trying to prevent them from coming down.
Now that this storm has passed, they say it could take weeks to get rid of all the trees and branches that were knocked down by this latest storm.
The emergency management department said forecast models call for clearing skies this week and a chance to dry out. But the long range forecasts indicate that we will likely see more storms roll through in the weeks ahead.
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In San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood, clean-up efforts are also underway as thousands were still without power on Monday evening.
"It’s about 59 degrees. We have a thermometer in the house. It’s just going to get colder tonight," said Willow Glen resident, Beau Dowling.
As crews move from neighborhood to neighborhood cleaning up debris, fallen trees and repair downed power lines, those without power say staying warm is a top priority. One man in Willow Glen says although Pacific Gas and Electric is working near his home, he still has no idea when the power will return.
"The big question that nobody can tell me from PG&E is, once this pole is in, which they’re telling me will happen tonight, nobody can tell me whether we will have power coming into this," said Tim Hamsher, of Willow Glen.
A convenience store on Lincoln Avenue is using a generator for now to keep its doors open for business.
Robyn Levine says she’s lived in Willow Glen for nearly 50 years and has never been without power for an extended period.
"When you pulled up, I was in my car charging my phone so I can be in contact with whatever. Most importantly, I want to know from PG&E, when are we going to be getting power?" said Robyn Levine, of Willow Glen.
PG&E’s website says it takes at least 24 hours before it can estimate when power will be restored. It says the largest outages are responded to first, so the largest number of customers have their power restored. But in the meantime, people say they’re going to do what they can to stay safe and help each other out.
By 10 p.m., the utility said they still had a total of 94,173 Bay Area customers without power.
"My friend lives right here where the tree fell, and he just had open-heart surgery. So, I’m helping him, and I’m helping the neighborhood. So, I’m just doing my part," said James Lions, Almaden.
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