The first major storm of the season hit last night, dumping two
inches of rain on Gilroy. Although few residents experienced power
outages, flooding spread throughout the city as the day wore
on.
The first major storm of the season hit last night, dumping two inches of rain on Gilroy. Although few residents experienced power outages, flooding spread throughout the city as the day wore on.
Compared to the rest of the Bay Area, Gilroy’s faring the storm well, said Matt Nauman, a spokesman for PG&E. About 40 customers lost power this morning around 6 a.m., but electricity to those homes was flowing again within an hour. As of 5 p.m., all Gilroy customers were up and running. But 210,000 customers throughout PG&E’s service area, which runs from Eureka to Bakersfield, were still without power – 46,000 of whom live in the Bay Area, Nauman said. About 2,600 Morgan Hill residents also experienced a short power outage about 6 a.m.
Though Gilroyans weren’t hit by power outages as severely as some of its neighbors, they and the rest of northern California is being asked to conserve power tonight. According to Gregg Fishman, a spokesman for the California Independent System Operator, which operates the power grid for about 80 percent of the state, a 500,000-volt transmission line is down due to the storm. The line, which is the “backbone transmission system for the California grid,” is located about 20 miles outside of Moss Landing and helps move power from northern to southern California and vice versa, Fishman said.
Because of the storm, the operator has only about a third of its usual capability to move power from southern California to northern California and a transmission emergency was declared around 1:30 p.m., Fishman said.
The operator is calling for conservation in the northern part of the state.
“There are no specific power outages because of this,” Fishman said. “This transmission line down has not caused anyone to lose power. But it’s limited our ability to move power.”
Fishman said he did not believe the downed line would cause the operator to call for mandatory rotating blackouts.
About 1.5 inches of rain fell on Gilroy by 4 p.m., according to the Dispatch’s rain gauge. But over at Country Estates off Mantelli, resident Pete Anello’s rain gauge had collected over five inches by 4 p.m., he reported.
Several parts of the road in rural Gilroy were flooded by 6 p.m., residents reported. A Caltrans sign posted on Hecker Pass Highway cautioned motorists about flooding along the road and two pockets of Burchell Road north of Hecker Pass were also significantly flooded. A large oak branch that had fallen was leaning on power lines in front of the Gilroy Golf Course.
Police also closed off Silva’s Crossing in Christmas Hill Park due to flooding. But even though the gate had been pulled closed across Miller Road, a motorist coming from Santa Teresa Boulevard turned right on Miller, ignored the sign, went through the water at the bottom of Silva’s Crossing and around the closed gate and got stuck in the mire about 6 p.m. A tow truck worked to pull the car out about 6:30 p.m.
In Morgan Hill, an apartment complex on Bisceglia Avenue was evacuated after the storm dumped nearly three inches of rain on Morgan Hill in less than 12 hours. Sand bags and plastic sheets, as well as a movable “flooded” sign futilely guarded the front entrance of Trail Dust Barbecue on Monterey Street downtown, and rising water crept inside the building shortly after 5 p.m.
The city of Morgan Hill ran out of emergency signs to close roads due to flooding Tuesday afternoon. Standing rain water covered the top of parked vehicles’ tires on the south end of town, near the Morgan Hill Post Office on Monterey Road.
Standing water in Ester Collins’ northeast Morgan Hill neighborhood was deep enough for her to go out for a boat ride down Fountain Avenue.
“We’re just going down the street in our kayak,” Collins said on the phone.
A CalFire dispatch operator said personnel have responded to numerous traffic accidents, calls for residential flooding, and road flooding.
No significant injuries or damage have been reported.
City public works crews used portable pumps to attempt to disperse water that collected in areas that lacked adequate drainage. One such pump, in front of Trail Dust, couldn’t keep up with streams of water overflowing a retention hole next to the building. Public works crews were dispatched Trail Dust Barbecue and Glory Days Bar & Grill as well as other areas where flooding threatened traffic and structures.
Live Oak High School canceled all its athletic events scheduled for Tuesday because of the heavy rainfall.
The storm won’t start winding down until about midnight, according to Diana Henderson of the National Weather Service.
The NWS reported wind gusts of 56 miles per hour atop Mt. Hamilton northeast of Morgan Hill, and gusts of about 22 miles per hour in San Martin.
The season’s first storm will hover over the entire Bay Area until Tuesday night and has dropped more than three inches of rain in the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to Henderson.
Those inches are a blessing for the thirsty valley, said Santa Clara Valley Water District spokeswoman Susan Siravo.
“It certainly is a good sign to see a storm this big come in so early in the season,” she said. “But we need a lot more to make a large impact.”
The valley is experiencing its third year of drought and the silver lining of this early storm is that it’s a good start toward reaching or exceeding the region’s annual rainfall of about 15 inches.
“We need above average rainfall to make a difference,” Siravo said. “That we’re picking up two inches or so with this storm is really great.”
Total reservoir levels jumped by nearly a percentage point since this morning, Siravo said, to over 44.1 percent of capacity by the afternoon.
Wednesday’s forecast includes “breezy” conditions and scattered showers, with sunny skies returning by Thursday, Henderson said. Friday and Saturday are also supposed to be sunny, with highs in the 70s.
Throughout PG&E’s entire service area, which extends from Eureka to Bakersfield, about 233,000 customers have been out of power for varying lengths of time since the storm began Monday night, Nauman reported. About 115,000 were still without power as of 11:45 a.m.
“It’s pretty unusual for this early in the season,” Nauman said of the blustery conditions. “It’s causing outages because the trees are still full of leaves so they’re heavier, unlike in January and February.”
