Nearly 4,000 Bay Area PG&E customers still without power
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - PG&E crews have been working around the clock to repair power outages throughout the Bay Area since the weekend, caused by a storm that brought heavy rain and powerful winds resulting in mudslides and downed trees.
As of 3 p.m. today, 3,981 customers were without power in the Bay Area, according to PG&E spokeswoman Mayra Tostado.
In the North Bay, 1,424 customers are without power, while on the Peninsula 1,187 customers have been affected. In the South Bay, 1,032 customers are affected, and only 258 customers are without power in San Francisco.
The East Bay appears to be the least affected by the outages with only 80 customers without power.
PG&E expects to restore power to most customers in the Bay Area by later tonight. Some customers, however, may have to wait longer for their power to be restored as crews are having difficulty accessing some areas due to flooding, mudslides and visibility issues.
Initially, more than 595,717 customers were without power since the storm hit on Saturday. Most of those customers have since been restored.
PG&E is working with crews from other regional utility companies as part of a mutual aid agreement. The assisting crews are expected to begin arriving today to help with the restoration effort.
PG&E crews have established base camps in places such as Scotts Valley, Fort Bragg and Half Moon Bay, where extra materials are being stored and additional crews will be on hand, according to Tostado.
The outages are a result of the heavy rains that caused the soil to be saturated, coupled with gusty winds that caused trees to fall and knock down power lines. In some instances, electrical equipment such as transformers were also damaged, further complicating repairs.
Although the Bay Area is not expected to receive rainfall again until Tuesday, more outages could come before that, as the soil remains saturated by the weekend's heavy rains, Tostado said.
PG&E is reminding residents to stay away and call 911 if they see any downed power lines.