Major blackouts impacted thousands of PG&E customers following high winds and heavy rainfall Saturday into Sunday morning.
“We had about five to 6,000 people without power in San Luis Obispo alone overnight," said PG&E communications representative, Carina Corral.
The storm also affected efforts to restore power.
“The thing that really hampered our efforts last night was the winds. Generally, we are trying to restore power as quickly as possible, however, the winds grounded our bucket trucks and also our lineman from going up it was just too dangerous," added Corral.
Corral said the Central Coast region was hit particularly hard with power outages. The extreme weather knocked down power poles and trees into power lines.
That’s exactly what happened with an outage in the Pismo Beach area that began Saturday night. Closing a portion of Highway 1 near Dolliver Street.
“About time we’re all just going to bed you know looking at our phones, checking the news all of a sudden the power goes out. It’s been 15 hours without power," said Steve Nance who was visiting the area.
Businesses in the area were left in the dark including "The Scoop" ice cream shop forcing the co-owner to tell his customers they were closed for the time being.
Using a generator he was able to save some of his ice creams.
“I saw about two-thirds of my ice cream was manageable to be saved so, I lost about a third. A loss of profit and inventory and a few flavors for customers to get" said co-owner of the shop, David Isebrands.
PG&E officials say crews are ready. PG&E activating its emergency operation center since Friday night and has 1,500 personnel ready to respond and restore power.
PG&E said it’s always good to be prepared against an outage that includes backup generators, flashlights, and staying away from downed power lines.
To check a power outage near you, click on this website.
