SMUD works to mitigate outages ahead of more forecasted wet weather
SACRAMENTO — Wild wind and heavy rain snapped trees and power poles in Sacramento on Wednesday. It was a race against time as SMUD worked to fix lines and restore power before Thursday's wet weather, but it might be too late to help neighbors still in the dark.
"Crews are prepared for this upcoming storm. Obviously, it's still a recovery from the last storm. Since then, SMUD has doubled its crews," said Gamaliel Ortiz, a spokesperson for SMUD.
One question we asked SMUD was whether or not they had the equipment ready to handle mass outages amid the harsh conditions.
"It's hard to predict how many outages are possible, but of course, SMUD is beefing up their material in the event that these outages do materialize," Ortiz said.
Some neighbors were still working to recover from damages sustained in the New Year's storm. Other Sacramentans were preparing for what's to come.
"I got those propane heaters," one Land Park resident said. He added, "I hope people are safe. The next ten days, there's going to be a lot more rain and wind."
SMUD said there's likely to be additional downed trees and downed power lines overnight Wednesday which leads to additional outages. If you are on the road, be aware of your surroundings and stay inside as trees and power lines can go down whenever.