Shannon Farrington of Gilroy was one of the 2.2 million electric
customers in California who braved this past weekend’s storm
without power.
Shannon Farrington of Gilroy was one of the 2.2 million electric customers in California who braved this past weekend’s storm without power.
The series of storms dumped more than 4 inches of rain on Gilroy and knocked out power to 80 of Gilroy’s Pacific Gas and Electric customers. But, compared to other parts of the Bay Area, Gilroy dodged a bullet.
“It was actually kind of fun,” Farrington said of last Friday night when he, his wife and their two children took the storm in stride, playing games and reading stories by candlelight.
Like PG&E customers all over the state, the Farrington family were left in the dark last Friday at 2:30 p.m. Their power wasn’t restored until the next afternoon. In the meantime, they stocked their refrigerator with ice, found their flashlights and warmed up their dinner across the street at a neighbor’s house.
Even though the southern side of the three blocks of Fifth Street between Hanna and Princevalle streets were without power over the weekend, lights burned brightly in the homes just across the street, Shannon Farrington said.
Other areas of Gilroy left powerless by the storm were concentrated around Longmeadow Drive west of Santa Teresa Boulevard. Power has been restored to all Gilroy customers.
Stubby’s Sports Bar and Grill owner, John Stiber, saw an influx of new faces at his bar over the weekend. Sports fans were left powerless when their cable and satellite networks were zapped by the storm. With four football playoff games this weekend, they sought refuge in front of the bar’s 14 televisions.
“Ultimately, we wound up with fewer regulars because they didn’t want to get wet,” Stiber said. “But we saw a bunch of new faces because people didn’t have their cable and satellite. Fortunately, we maintained reception and power all weekend. We really dodged the bullet.”
The series of Pacific storms that battered Northern and Central California left PG&E crews struggling to restore power in the hardest hit areas. With widespread damage, PG&E has contracted more than 80 crews from as far as Kansas, in addition to its own 600 crews, to help restore power to the state.
Enough power lines to stretch from San Francisco to San Diego were downed by falling trees across the company’s 74,000 square mile service area. Although PG&E has restored power to 2.1 of the 2.2 customers who experienced power outages, restoration efforts are projected to go into the week for the remaining outages.
Although major thoroughfares were closed over the weekend throughout the state due to flooding in the streets, the Santa Clara County Water District noted little overflow of the county’s creeks and streams.
“It was fortunate that we were proactive in clearing our creeks and streams of trash and other debris,” said SCCWD spokeswoman, Susan Siravo. “There wasn’t too much flooding in that respect.” The water district also helped the community prepare for the downpour by handing out free, filled sandbags at various locations around the county. Forty tons of sand were delivered to the San Martin location on Friday morning in preparation for the wet weekend and Siravo estimated that several thousand sandbags were picked up.
Now that the storm has passed, the county’s reservoirs are at 49 percent capacity, up from 41 percent before the storm hit. Gilroy received 4.5 inches of rain as the storm ran its course.
“This storm came at a really good time especially since 2007 was such a dry year and we’re getting less water from the delta,” Siravo said. “A big, powerful storm is just what we needed.”
The National Weather Service forecasts thunderstorms for tonight and a chance of showers until clear skies and sun on Friday, with high temperatures in the 50s and lows in the 30s.
See more photos of the storm in the
