Christmas morning brought a harsh reality for thousands on the Central Coast: darkness. Nearly 19,000 PG&E customers are still without power following the powerful storm that struck, a stark reminder of the storm's impact.
Power lines were downed, and trees succumbed to the relentless winds. Initially, over 35,000 customers faced a Christmas morning without electricity. But here's where we see some progress: thousands have had their power restored.
Let's break down the situation county by county:
Monterey County:
- As of Thursday at 9 a.m., an estimated 18,755 customers were affected by 119 outages. By Friday at 10:38 a.m., that number had decreased to 12,324 customers across 97 outages. The coast and Monterey Peninsula are the hardest hit. PG&E is estimating power restoration by 11 p.m. Friday for Pacific Grove and Carmel. The outages are attributed to weather-related issues, with a tree contacting a power line cited as the cause in Pacific Grove.
- Specific outage numbers include:
- Big Sur: 149 outages
- Carmel: 6,744 outages
- Carmel-by-the-Sea: 15 outages
- Carmel Valley: 258 outages
- Castroville: 7 outages
- Chualar: 2 outages
- Gonzales: 7 outages
- King City: 45 outages
- Monterey: 2,623 outages
- Pacific Grove: 461 outages
- Pebble Beach: 2,307 outages
- Salinas: 104 outages
- San Ardo: 1 outage
- San Lucas: 9 outages
- Seaside: 94 outages
- Soledad: 3 outages
Santa Cruz County:
- Christmas Day began with 16,309 customers affected by 189 outages. As of Friday morning, 6,376 customers were still without power. The Santa Cruz Mountains were heavily impacted, though most city outages were cleared by Thursday morning. Restoration is also estimated for Friday by 11 p.m.
The situation is dynamic, and these numbers are constantly evolving. It's a testament to the ongoing efforts to restore power and the resilience of the communities affected.
What do you think? Are you among those still without power? How has this impacted your holiday? Share your experiences and thoughts in the comments below.
