Still no power for tens of thousands in Bay Area; PG&E says storm most damaging in decades
Tens of thousands of Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the Bay Area woke up Wednesday still without power three days after damaging winds from the so-called "bomb cyclone" storm that was the most damaging in decades, according to the utility.
Sunday's storm accompanied by wind gusts that reached hurricane-force speeds in the highest peaks knocked down trees and power lines across the region.
On Wednesday, PG&E said the storm was "now the largest single storm producing multiple customer outages in nearly 30 years, affecting more than 1.4 million customers."
The utility said the high gusts and sustained winds resulted in 728 being broken or toppled, requiring crews to restring or repair more than 2,000 spans of powerlines. Some 5,000 employees and contractors were on storm repair duty, PG&E said.
As of 10 a.m. Wednesday, more than 27,000 customers were without power, down from about 35,000 earlier in the day, most of those in the North Bay. The utility said the total includes customers who have been without power since the storm along with new outages.
PG&E customers without power as of 10 a.m. on 2/7/23:
- San Francisco 113
- Peninsula 4,007
- North Bay 15,774
- East Bay 163
- South Bay 7,376
Total 27,433
The second atmospheric river-fueled storm of the week last Sunday, combined with a bomb cyclone - in which an intense storm is merged with a significant drop in atmospheric pressure - began early Sunday morning and resulted in wind gusts that left widespread damage and power outages.
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More than 200,000 PG&E customers in the Bay Area were without power at the height of the outages, and the utility said it has restored power to more than a million customers across California.
On Wednesday, several schools in Sonoma County remained closed because of power outages and other storm-related issues: They are:
- Dunham School District
- Harmony Union School District
- Horicon School District
- Kashia School District
- Oak Grove Union School District (only Oak Grove Elementary School)