Quick Take
Some residents of Santa Cruz County were without power Friday due to high winds knocking down trees into power lines. At the same time, Pacific Gas & Electric has implemented some Public Safety Power Shutoffs to prevent power lines from sparking fires during the dry and windy weather.
More than 100 Santa Cruz County homes were without power due to high winds on Friday, and public safety officials were on high alert due to potential wildfire danger.
As of 1:15 p.m., 132 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in Santa Cruz County were without power because of Public Safety Power Shutoffs — a precautionary measure to avoid power lines sparking fires during hot, dry and windy weather, said PG&E spokesperson Stephanie Magallon.
Additional outages that occurred overnight and Friday morning around the county were caused by trees falling onto power lines due to high winds, said Magallon.
If residents see fallen trees on roadways, they are asked to call the county dispatch line at 831-477-3999, said county public information officer Jason Hoppin.
PG&E has opened emergency resource centers at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Freedom Boulevard in Aptos and at Faith Lutheran Church on Ferris Avenue in Los Gatos. The resource centers will have free power, wi-fi and restrooms available and are open to anyone affected by the outages, said Magallon.
The resource centers also serve as information hubs for residents to receive updates on the status of the outages, and will be open, until power is restored, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., said Magallon.
That can take an hour or could stretch into Saturday, said Magallon. As soon as PG&E’s meteorology team determines that weather conditions are safe to turn power back on, crews can start the restoration process.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service expanded its red flag warning, lasting into Saturday, to include all of Santa Cruz County after earlier posting a fire risk warning only included only the northern part of the county.
Neighboring San Benito, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties and most of Monterey County will also be under the red flag warning that started late Thursday night and runs to 5 p.m. Saturday, with the forecast calling for offshore winds in the 25-35 mph range and gusts up to 65 mph across the highest peaks. Under a red flag warning, wildfire danger is likely, in this case due to low humidity, dry fuels and strong winds.
Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.