A fast-moving storm packed with wind, heavy rain and lightning left thousands of Central Coast residents without power this week, as PG&E crews worked around the clock to restore service.
In San Luis Obispo, lightning and fallen trees brought down a utility pole Tuesday night, cutting power between South Street and High Street just steps from the popular High Street Deli.
Teresa Bloomfield, who works at the deli and lives nearby, says she was fortunate the lights remained on at her home, but much of her neighborhood wasn’t as lucky.
“It went fwoop! Probably the weirdest sound I’ve ever heard,” Bloomfield recalled.“We had power all night, stayed nice and warm. But our neighbors, as far as we could see down Branch Street, were out.”
PG&E Central Coast Regional Senior Manager Jeremy Howard says the utility had about 45 crews already stationed across San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties ahead of the storm to respond quickly where outages were expected.
“We’re able to move crews and resources into the areas where we anticipate the most outage activity, so we can respond more quickly,” Howard said.
Outages peaked Tuesday night, with 4,900 customers in the dark by 8 p.m. The number dropped to fewer than 2,000 by 10 p.m., thanks to rapid response from crews.
Bloomfield says she noticed how quickly PG&E arrived.
“Trucks showed up within half an hour. PG&E was out there pretty quick,” she said.
While strong winds and fallen trees could be anticipated, Howard says lightning strikes were scattered and unpredictable during the storm.
“It’s harder to predict, so we have to react in the moment because we’re never 100% certain where lightning will strike,” Howard said.
Residents experiencing outages can check estimated restoration times and updates by visiting PG&E’s outage map online.
