Nicole Walton was looking out the window of her Los Altos Chamber of Commerce office March 14 when she saw a large tree fall in front of her.
“Oh no, oh no, oh no!” she said as the tree came crashing down, pulling out chunks of the parking lot with it.
Wild wind gusts in the 50 mph range knocked down numerous trees and branches, snapping power lines and leading to massive, extended power outages throughout the Los Altos area last week. Debris filled streets, prompting road closures and an overwhelming need for public works and utilities crews.
Downtown Los Altos was a ghost town for two days last week, and the blackouts cost restaurants and retailers thousands of dollars in revenue. Power began returning to businesses at approximately 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Despite the fierce winds, few injuries were reported. A student reportedly sustained minor injuries after a tree fell at Oak Avenue School.
The outages, lasting until Thursday, Friday, even Saturday, had people griping on social media and scrambling to find power for cellphones and laptops.
“Don’t understand how PG&E expects people to go (so) long without power,” read one typical Nextdoor comment.
Still others issued calls for help for vulnerable neighbors and expressed appreciation for utility and cleanup crews.
Nearby coffee shops and libraries that had power, north of El Camino Real, were inundated with people looking for workspace.
The outages led to the cancellation of several events, including the March 14 Los Altos City Council meeting and Friday’s St. Paddy’s Beer Stroll. The Los Altos Village Association has rescheduled the beer stroll to April 21.
Crews stretched thin
PG&E officials indicated they were overwhelmed by the amount of wind-induced damage March 14, stretching resources to the maximum.
“We are currently working through the aftermath of the 13th storm event in the past 75 days,” said Sumeet Singh, PG&E’s senior vice president and chief risk officer. “This has been the most impactful storm that we have seen in terms of customers out in a single day in the Bay Area since 1995. It is highly unusual to have so many storms in quick succession.”
He noted March 15 that 367,000 customers were without power.
“Trees that have been weakened by drought and in saturated soil fell onto our power lines toppled by extremely high winds,” Singh said. “Five of the weather stations recorded tornado-force winds with gusts up to 97 miles per hour in Alameda, Marin, Amador and Santa Clara counties.”
Average wind speeds peaked in the Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills region at 22 mph noon March 14, with gusts reported as high as 49 mph, according to the National Weather Service. The high wind speeds tapered off in the late afternoon.
In Los Altos alone, the police department received 102 reports of downed trees/branches and 56 reports of downed wires, city spokesperson Sonia Lee said.
“Police noted minor injuries from two instances where trees fell on vehicles,” she added.
PG&E crews encountered “very challenging conditions,” said PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado, in the wake of the March 14 storm.
“Crews in some locations needed to pause their work activities for their safety, while others prioritized emergency calls from local police and fire departments in order to make the situation safe,” Tostado said. “Now that the worst of the weather has passed, they’re back at work. We have additional crews and resources in areas with the most weather-related damage in the Bay Area, (which) includes the South Bay, Peninsula and East Bay.”
The Los Altos Chamber of Commerce hosted a thank-you event Thursday for emergency workers and first responders in the parking lot of the chamber’s headquarters on University Avenue. Local eateries provided food and drinks as guests traded power-outage stories. Much of the large tree that had fallen in the chamber parking lot was cleared, except a large stump lying on its side.
“We are one community trying to help each other,” said Kim Mosley, chamber president.
For Los Altos storm updates and numbers, visit tinyurl.com/2p9end5z.
