By Olivia Wynkoop. Bay City News.
More than 450,000 California residents were left without power during Tuesday's high winds and rain, officials said. PG&E during a briefing on Wednesday.
And in the Bay Area alone, about 108,000 people remained without power as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Officials said it was the 38th consecutive day that the company's emergency operations center has been active, pointing to an extraordinary winter season with high levels of rain, snow, flooding, mudslides and other storm-related emergencies across the state.
More than 5,500 crew members are in the field to restore power during extreme weather conditions, said Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s chief operating officer. He added that the company will continue to prioritize safety above all else, which sometimes results in delayed restoration of service in some areas.
“At PG&E, we know how important electricity is to your families, schools, communities and businesses,” Singh said. “And we won’t stop working until we get power back to every single one of our customers.”
Singh said the company is working to recover from this week's most recent storm, the 13th in the past 75 days, which broke the record for the storm with the most power outages for customers in the Bay Area since 1995.
Nearly 367,000 customers across California were without power Tuesday at the height of the storm, Singh said.
Of the total 450,000 customers statewide affected by Tuesday's outages, 290,000 had restored power as of Wednesday afternoon, he said.
“When there is extensive damage, it can take some time to safely access a situation and assessment. We know this can be frustrating,” Singh stressed. “Our commitment is to provide restoration estimates no later than 24 hours after the outage begins, even if we have not been able to access the outage to assess it.”
Angie Gibson, vice president of emergency preparedness and response at PG&E's Emergency Operations Center in Vacaville, noted that the Bay Area counties with the most damage are Santa Clara, San Mateo and Contra Costa counties. Most of the damage comes from uprooting trees due to soil saturation and extreme winds.
He also explained that the upcoming weather will make it easier for crews to assess and restore the affected areas.
"Fortunately, the extreme storm that caused the most damage yesterday has moved out of the territory," Gibson said. "We have good, dry weather, which will continue at least tomorrow with light winds."
Residents who notice a downed power line are encouraged to first call 9-1-1 and then PG&E at 1-800-743-5000. People concerned about their vulnerable neighbors can also receive information about community services in the area by calling 2-1-1.
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