Nearly 2,000 Households Still Lack Power
PG&E says 8,000 employees and contractors are working around the clock
At the height of the current outage, more than one in five homes in the county had lost power.
The number of households without power is creeping down slowly, but as of 6 p.m. on Friday, more than 1,800 PG&E customers were making do with candles, wood stoves, and generators — if they had them.
PG&E said a combination of heavy rain and strong winds brought down trees across the county, triggering hundreds of small outages that quickly added up.
Mendocino County was among the hardest-hit areas in Northern California, said PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian.
“At this time, Mendocino County is the fourth most impacted county throughout our service area,” Sarkissian said. “We saw significant impacts across the North Coast during this storm.”
She said PG&E mobilized about 8,000 workers across Northern and Central California, including contractors, with many crews reassigned from less-affected regions.
“It’s all hands on deck,” Sarkissian said. “Our crews have been working around the clock and through the holidays to restore power safely and as quickly as possible.”
According to PG&E, one of the biggest challenges in Mendocino County has been access, as fallen trees and debris blocked roads and delayed repairs.
Restoration times vary widely because many outages affect small clusters of homes scattered across rural areas, the utility said. When estimated restoration times are unavailable online, Sarkissian said crews are often still assessing damage in the field.
Hospitals, fire stations and other critical facilities are restored first, followed by residential customers.
Residents without power are encouraged to call 2-1-1, for updates and assistance.