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Thousands lose power in SLO County Thursday 

wind knocks billboard down

This billboard was a victim of high winds Thursday afternoon. It’s located on northbound Highway 101 just north of Atascadero.

PG&E has 355 crews working around the clock to restore power

This map shows affected areas in the county earlier Thursday evening.

This map shows affected areas in the county earlier Thursday evening.

As the winter storm rages through California, 287,000 customers in Pacific Gas & Electric’s service area — from Eureka along the coast to San Luis Obispo County and east to Kern County — lost power. As of 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, PG&E said it had about 35,000 customers still without power.

In the San Luis Obispo County,11,544 customers were without power as of 8:45 p.m., PG&E spokesman J.D. Guidi said. While many North County residents — especially in Atascadero — lost power earlier in the evening, he said that only 37 Atascadero customers remained without power as of 8:45 p.m., as well as sporadic outages around the county.

Guidi said that San Luis Obispo County was one of the highest impacted areas power-wise. In the county, Arroyo Grande still had 4,350 customers without power as of 8:45 p.m. Cambria the next heaviest affected at 1,000.

“Our crews are working nonstop to restore power as quickly as possible,” said Guidi, who added that 355 crews — he was unsure of the total number of people on each crew were added to the response effort throughout the entire service area. Those crews include contractors that traveled from Oregon, Washington and Southern California to assist. Crews from low-impacted areas were moved to high-impacted area to ensure quick restoration of power.

“We do want to thank our customers for their patience,” Guidi said. “We do have crews working around the clock.”

Many customers were prepared, heeding warnings broadcast on the radio, TV and in print. Atascadero resident Denise Braun said her family prepared by digging out flashlights and lighting candles before losing power. She also reported that the oak trees around her house have been losing a lot of branches in the wild storm. Fig Good Food owner Chris Dillow said she had prepared for the storm and power outages, but not at her Atascadero restaurant, which lost power briefly early Thursday evening.

The storm as predicted by the National Weather Service, began on Thursday morning, building in size, peaking Thursday evening. In the North County, high winds and rain have pelted everything in its way. The moderate to heavy rainfall is expected to last four to six hours. In the North County, the intensity picked up around 5:30 p.m. Guidi said there have been reports of winds reaching 40-plus mph.

So far for the rain season — which is July 1 through June 30 — Paso Robles has received a total of 2.89 inches. The National Weather Service expects that the storm will bring one to four inches of rain with the highest rainfall totals in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.

Guidi said that all of the outaged have been weather-related. Many from fallen limbs or trees, but also from high winds.

“Because a lot of the trees have been stressed by the drought, we may see more trees losing limbs or falling down,” SLO County CalFIRE Chief Robert Lewin warned Wednesday.

Lewin warns residents to stay clear down power lines and to notify call 911 immediately and then notify PG&E at 1-800-743-5002. However, Lewin recommends to refrain from calling 911 if power is lost.

Safety tips:

  • Always treat low hanging and downed power lines as if they are energized and extremely dangerous. Keep yourself and others away from them. Be aware that trees, pools of water and other objects that may be in contact with power lines.
  • During a power outage, use battery-operated flashlights, and not candles, due to the risk of fire. If candles are used,  keep them away from drapes, lampshades, holiday trees and small children. Do not leave candles unattended.
  • Customers with generators should make sure they are properly installed by a licensed electrician in a well-ventilated area. Improperly installed generators pose a significant danger to crews working on power lines.
  • Unplug or turn off all electrical appliances when power goes out to avoid overloading circuits and to prevent fire hazards when power is restored. Simply leave a single lamp on to alert you when power returns. Turn your appliances back on one at a time when conditions return to normal.
  • Do not use alternative heating sources such as barbecues or ovens.

 

For an emergency, contact the Paso Robles Police Department (805) 237-6464.

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