Let there be light: many Clarksburg neighbors have power after 6 days in the dark
CLARKSBURG -- The lights are back on as of Thursday night for hundreds of Clarksburg neighbors who have been in the dark since New Year's Eve.
"For us, it came back on today within the last hour," Tyler Whitted said Thursday evening.
The small town right outside of Sacramento has spent the past six days with no power, while several neighbors who rely on wells have had no water.
"I finally get to take a shower. I can finally flush a toilet, which was a big thing!" said one Clarksburg neighbor CBS13 spoke with who did not share his name.
The power coming back on is an answered prayer for many locals.
"It's been a rough six days with no running water or means of light in the house," said Whitted.
It's even worthy of celebration for some.
"It was like, break out the champagne and let's have a good time!" said the neighbor with a laugh.
"So this is our New Year's, yeah! So finally, it's happy New Year's (sic) for us," said Harpreet Gill.
Gill is the manager of Holland Market, a community cornerstone in Clarksburg that has been open for four decades.
The convenience store stayed open the whole time of the outage, running on generators for six days to keep their neighbors fed and well supplied.
"We sold out of propane and everybody's come in to get batteries for their flashlights," said Gill.
Holland Market's power finally kicked back on Thursday night. It comes as PG&E races to restore power to the small community.
Crews on site in Clarksburg Thursday told CBS13 some homes will stay in the dark as the lines they need to fix are still inaccessible in the aftermath of two strong storms since New Year's Eve.
"I've lived here since 1968 and this is the worst power outage I've ever experienced," the neighbor told CBS13.
For those who are not spending another night by candlelight, it came just in the nick of time.
"My generator was just about to run out of gasoline, and that's the only power I had in the house. All that was doing was running the furnace," the neighbor added. "I lost a whole refrigerator full of food, even the filet mignons."
Clarksburg only has a population of about 400 people. Half the town, just under 200 people, remains in the dark Thursday night according to PG&E's outage map.