Editor’s note: Due to the outages internet speeds are very slow, though we’re not sure the specific reason why. As a result we are drastically limiting the number of photos and videos in this post. We will put photos on Facebook instead.
UPDATE 10/28/19 3 p.m. — Here is our latest:
UPDATE 10/28/19 1 a.m. — Just before 1 a.m., PG&E has issued a press release stating that “Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Northern Mendocino and portions of Lake County,” were given the “all clear” Sunday afternoon for the current power shut-off, and that PG&E will now begin inspecting and repairing lines at daylight Monday, October 28.. The company has also stated they may turn off power to portions of 35 counties, including Mendocino, in a new power shut-off beginning on Tuesday, October 29, and some people have begun receiving alerts.
PG&E warned customers that the repairs required prior re-energization may be extensive due to the recent high winds, and that re-energizing may take longer than 48 hours. Inspections may also be delayed by the Kincade firefighting efforts in Sonoma County.
In the press release, the utility company states that “some customers who are currently out of power may remain out throughout the duration of the next potential PSPS event,” and encourages customers who do briefly have power “to use the opportunity to charge any medical equipment, phones and other electronic devices and restock emergency kits.”
Here’s the full press release, the original article is below:
CURRENT OCTOBER 26 PSPS EVENT:
PG&E Expects to Issue Weather “All Clear” for Safety Inspections and Restoration Work to Begin Early Monday Morning for Northern Sierras and North Coast
Power Restored to 30,000 Customers by Sunday at 10:00 p.m.
Safety Inspections and Restoration Work to continue at First Light
Contingent on Weather Conditions, Kern, Fresno, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne Counties Expected to be Shutoff Tonight
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) reported that the company issued a weather “all clear” for the Northern Sierras and North Coast communities within its service area currently impacted by the Saturday, Oct. 26 Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). By 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, over 30,000 customers had their power restored.
Current Restoration for Oct. 26 PSPS
As wind conditions improved this afternoon a weather “all clear” was issued for customers in Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Northern Mendocino and portions of Lake County.
PG&E has begun safety patrols and inspections in the “all clear” in several counties before sundown, and will resume at first daylight on Monday, Oct. 28. PG&E will strive to inspect and restore power within 48 hours but given the significance of this high-wind event with gusts as high as 102 mph, the damage may be significant, requiring additional time and resources.We will continue to monitor conditions for the remaining customers impacted by this historic safety shutoff in portions of counties including: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo and Yuba.
Restoration Process
More than 6,000 on-the-ground field personnel have been deployed and 45 helicopters are staged in the impacted areas. Helicopter inspections may be impacted by the Kincade firefighting efforts in Sonoma County.
PG&E has requested mutual aid of 1,000 workers from other energy companies and has secured the support of 129 mutual aid representatives from Florida Power and Light Company, Imperial Irrigation District, ATCO Electric, Puget Sound and Consumers Power Inc.
Additional Widespread PSPS Potential for Tuesday/Wednesday
PG&E is also closely following a potentially strong, widespread dry offshore wind event on Tuesday, Oct. 29, through midday Wednesday for Northern California, that is significant in scope and could impactapproximately 35 counties across the Northern and Southern Sierra, North Bay, Bay Area and Santa Cruz mountains, North Coast and Kern County. Kern County is expected to experience these conditions from late Tuesday night, Oct. 29 through Thursday morning, Oct. 31.PG&E press release, October 28, 12:44 a..m.
PG&E will make every effort to restore power to as many customers as possible who are currently out of power due to the Oct. 26 PSPS. However, due to the dynamic and changing weather conditions, and high fire risk, some customers who are currently out of power may remain out throughout the duration of the next potential PSPS event.
For those customers able to have their power restored between events, PG&E urges them to use the opportunity to charge any medical equipment, phones and other electronic devices and restock emergency kits.
Some customers may continue to be impacted by the PSPS event, while others may experience power outages due to weather damage to the electric system.
PG&E will continue to monitor weather conditions and will be providing additional information regarding affected areas.
MENDOCINO Co., 10/27/19 — Pacific Gas & Electric may decide to shut off the power, yet again, across 32 counties, including Mendocino, this Tuesday, and in some places this shut off will come before the utility company has managed to restore the power from our current widespread planned outage. Put another way, PG&E is going to turn the lights back off before they can even turn them back on.
The decision was made due to a forecast of another high wind, fire weather event, which is expected expected to begin midday of Tuesday, October 29 and last through Wednesday Oct. 30, or later.
The County of Mendocino made an announcement about PG&E’s intention to begin restoring power in the wake of this shut-off, saying that they anticipated sounding the “all clear,” that is saying that the inclement weather conditions had subsided and restoration work could commence, at 4 p.m. today in northern Mendo and 6 a.m. in southern Mendo. The all clear is not the same as power restoration, it just means that workers can begin to inspect lines and make repairs as necessary to allow for the lines to be re-energized. Depending on how much of the infrastructure needs to be surveyed and how much damage occurred, full restoration of power may come several days later.
However, as of time of publication, it remained unclear whether this has yet happened, and whether power will be restored prior to being shut-off again, and exactly where this is happening and when, remains unclear.
PG&E management held their daily press conference at 5:30 p.m. today to discuss the possibility of beginning to restore power in certain places, but also to emphasize that the company expects another high wind and fire risk “event” to last from Tuesday morning, October 28 until perhaps the morning of October 30 for at least portions of 32 counties — watch that video here. PG&E will also announce changes to their forecasts on their “weather awareness” page, which tracks the potential for shut-offs across the state over a seven day period. The utility company is also posting updates to their current planned shut-offs on this webpage.
Mendocino County has put together a power shut-off resource page with updated information, including which local businesses may be open and an outage map that you can check out. County officials announced Sunday evening that county offices will be open on Monday, and emergency services will continue:
“Mendocino County offices are open tomorrow and County services will be available. The County’s hours of operation are Monday – Friday from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm. All emergency services will continue to be provided 24 hours a day. In the event of a prolonged power outage some County facilities may be without power. The County will notify the community of any potential service changes or re-direction of services to other locations should they occur. Department specific contact information and addresses can be found online at www.mendocinocounty.org.”
County of Mendocino
Here’s the full announcement from PG&E (below), followed by the power restoration update provided by Mendocino County officials (below), which stated some portions of Mendocino may see . As many Californians have now experienced, it is not always the case that PG&E initiates power shut-offs or restorations exactly when and where they publicly announce, and these announcements often shift daily or even hourly. At this time people should be prepared to experience another outage starting on Tuesday, which may impact portions of Mendocino County — although some parts of the county could see their power come back on and stay on somewhat earlier. PG&E has said some of their “community resource centers,” will remain open from this shut-off through the upcoming one.
It is important to note PG&E must visually re-inspect all equipment and repair any damages before re-energizing their equipment, and given the widespread nature of this most recent shut-off, the company requested at least 1,000 “mutual aid” workers from other corporations to assist with restoration. As such, executives have so far hesitated to provide exact restoration times for specific locations, and have so far not clarified exactly which counties may face further shut-offs on Tuesday.
PG&E’s press release from 1:30 p.m. on October 27:
PG&E is Monitoring a Third Consecutive Severe Wind Event for Tuesday and Wednesday that Could Impact Nearly 32 Counties Across Northern and Central California
PG&E announced today that its meteorological and operations teams in its Emergency Operations Center continue to monitor a new, potentially widespread, strong and dry wind event forecasted for Tuesday morning through midday Wednesday for Northern California. The weather system is forecast to impact Kern County late Tuesday night through Thursday morning.
Potential Tuesday/Wednesday Public Safety Power Shutoff
The event will impact approximately 32 counties across the Northern and Southern Sierra, North Bay, Bay Area and Santa Cruz mountains, North Coast and Kern County. This weather event is a separate system from the one that triggered the October 26 Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event that is still active. This is the third consecutive significant wind event in a week’s time.
In response to this anticipated event, Northern Operative Predictive Services has issued a high risk of significant fires for a geographical footprint that covers much of PG&E’s service area. The National Interagency Fire Center’s Geographic Area Coordination Center is also forecasting significant fire potential across Northern California beginning on Tuesday of this week.
Potential Impact
Due to the forecasted extreme weather conditions, PG&E is considering proactively turning off power for safety. Portions of counties that may be impacted include, but are not limited to: Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, Yuba.
It is important to know that while customers in portions of these counties may be impacted by PSPS, all customers need to be prepared for potential outages due to equipment damage, hazards and continuously evolving weather.
Potential PSPS Timing
The period of weather risk starts Tuesday and continues through Thursday morning. The dry, windy weather pattern is expected to reach from the northern portions of PG&E’s service territory and down through the Sacramento Valley, before spreading into the central areas of the state, including the Bay Area.
PG&E will make every effort to restore power to as many customers as possible who are currently out of power due to the Oct. 26 PSPS event. However, due to the dynamic and changing weather conditions, and high fire risk, some customers who are currently out of power may remain out throughout the duration of the next potential PSPS event.
For those customers able to have their power restored between events, PG&E urges them to use the opportunity to charge any medical equipment, phones and other electronic devices and restock emergency kits.
Some customers may continue to be impacted by the PSPS event, while others may experience power outages due to weather damage to the electric system.
PG&E will continue to monitor weather conditions and will be providing additional information regarding affected areas.
PG&E Community Resource Centers
PG&E will provide Community Resource Centers in key areas that may have continuing impacts due to the Oct. 26 PSPS event and the potential new event. To view the current list, click here.
County of Mendocino’s press release from Sunday, October 27:
Post Date: 10/27/2019 2:10 PM
The County of Mendocino has been continually monitoring the scope of the Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event occurring in Mendocino County. PG&E estimates that over 946,000 customers have been de-energized state-wide. This event is very dynamic, and the County is dependent on PG&E to provide accurate, updated information that can be shared with the public. The County continues to monitor both this PSPS event, as well as fires in neighboring communities, and will continue to communicate information as it becomes available.
Please remember that a Red Flag Warning is in effect today through Monday throughout Northern California due to gusty winds and low humidity. This is critical fire weather and caution should be used when outdoors. On 10-26-2019 PG&E completed its de-energization of the majority of Mendocino County and will anticipate providing the “all clear” notification to begin restoration of power to those areas on 10-27-2019 around 4 pm in northern Mendocino and on 10-28-2019 around 6 am in southern Mendocino.The exact restoration time for the specific areas/communities of Mendocino County is unknown at this time and PG&E restoration efforts will occur only during daytime hours.
Disabled people hurt the worse I can’t go anywhere people are and I am so cold