Hey, Humboldt County, You Might Get Power Back Tonight

Once again Humboldt County residents, business owners, school administrators and moms are trying to deal with fluid information while planning how best to plan for the difficulties of being without power tonight and tomorrow. In a press conference that began at 6 p.m., PG&E reported that they might be able to bring back power tonight but they would not confirm that. However, Senator Mike McGuire stated in a 6:24 p.m. tweet, “Restoration of power will be starting TONIGHT in Humboldt County. This process could take several hours while PG&E completes line inspections. Restoration of power in Lake, Mendocino, Sonoma, Trinity and Southern Marin Counties will start taking place Thursday afternoon.”

PG&E said in the press conference this evening that other areas of Northern California could be deenergized tonight even as it is possible that Humboldt County is reenergized.

The wind event did not occur as early as expected today which allowed the company to delay removing power from some areas, PG&E explained. But they said there were still high winds in some areas. A PG&E meteorologist said that wind in portions of the Redding area hit 50 mph today. And even so the biggest part of the wind storm would likely occur tonight though not likely in our area but rather to the south and east of Humboldt County.

About 6:45 p.m., the County of Humboldt released the following information about the possibility of power being restored:

Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) is reporting that it has been given the “all clear” to immediately begin the process to restore power to the county. Please note that this does not mean that electricity will be restored immediately to the entire county. To be clear, residents should plan for another night without power. While PG&E can use the same restoration techniques for this event as it uses for general storms, this is a significant outage and therefore restoration for Humboldt will happen in phases. Some residents may begin receiving power restoration as early as tonight, but full restoration may take several days.

Roads:

In the event that you encounter a traffic signal that has been impacted by the Public Safety Power Shutdown (PSPS) event and it is not working, please treat it as a four-way stop. Do not just drive through the intersection without stopping. Slow down as you drive during the outage as it may be difficult to see traffic signals that are not working. Stop, and look both ways when you come to an intersection before you proceed.

Law enforcement officers will conduct additional patrols to ensure public safety, which remains Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services (Sheriff’s OES) first priority. Drive slowly, and use caution on roadways. Avoid driving if possible. Roads should remain clear for emergency responders.

Be cautious when using a portable heater, and make sure generators and propane stoves are placed in well-ventilated areas. Never leave candles unattended. Service restoration can cause power surges. Use caution when power is restored and watch for fire hazards as appliances come back online.

Go to prepareforpowerdown.com or call 1-877-9000-PGE for information on PSPS or to sign up for alerts. Follow Sheriff’s OES Facebook page for the latest information. facebook.com/HumboldtCountyOES

City Updates:

Rio Dell asks that residents reduce water usage in order to conserve generator fuel.

Just a suggestion, but just in case the power does come back on tonight, go check out the stars beforehand, it might be the brightest you will ever be able to see them. On the other-hand, if this powering down for safety sake is the new normal, maybe there will be an unfortunately large number of opportunities in the future.