Outages linger for thousands in Sacramento after storm. Who’s been out the longest?

Thousands of capital region residents and a junior college campus remain without power Tuesday morning two days after severe winds from a punishing storm knocked down hundreds of power poles and tree limbs, plunging more than 300,000 homes and businesses in California into darkness for days while crews scrambled to reconnect them.

Powerful near-hurricane level winds for about eight hours Sunday wracked Sacramento County with gusts reaching almost 70 mph at Mather Airport. Several thousand residents have been without power for three days — a testament to the storm’s fury, which is blamed for the deaths of at least three people in Northern California, authorities said.

“I don’t want to think about it too much because I am going to cry,” Nancy Wilson, while surveying damage outside her Carmichael home, said on Tuesday. Electricity stopped flowing through her home on Sunday and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District estimates it won’t be restored until Thursday.

Statewide, an estimated one million residents experienced power outages, as the state’s five major utilities reported damage to equipment and infrastructure. A little more than 5,000 customers remained in the dark Tuesday afternoon after more than 70 poles broke and 430 wires were repaired by an army of over 80 utility crews and outside contractors who had worked day and night since the winds subsided, the utility said.

“Replacing poles are major construction jobs,” SMUD said in an update sent late Monday night. “Each power pole takes a crew an average of 8 hours to repair, and for the safety of our employees and the public, this work can include closing roads and directing traffic, requiring coordination time with law enforcement and others.”

Who’s still without power?

By Tuesday, most connections had been restored but SMUD reported about 5,613 customers remained without power, with the heaviest concentrations in Arden Arcade and Carmichael. Other heavily affected areas include North Highlands, Fair Oaks and homes in the Florin and Parkway sections of south Sacramento.

Most of the outages were fewer than 70 homes in a neighborhood or block. Some homes won’t be connected to the grid until Thursday, according to metrics provided by SMUD. The largest geographic concentrations before noon Tuesday were in:

▪ Citrus Heights and Orangevale (2,477 customers)

▪ Arden Arcade, Carmichael and Rosemont along the American River (1,181)

▪ Unincorporated south Sacramento including Florin and Lemon Hill (733)

▪ Rancho Cordova (514)

▪ Rio Linda and Elverta (300)

The longest storm-related outage in SMUD territory, according to the data, was around Lakeview Drive and Maple Lane in Carmichael. Those homes have been without power since about 1:10 p.m. Sunday as winds from the south began to kick up. SMUD estimates residents won’t be hooked to the grid until Friday, according to its website.

Wilson said she came back home Sunday and saw a toppled tree and a broken power line strewn in front her home. It required Sacramento Metropolitan District Firefighters to escort her inside out of fears electrical currents still pumped through wires.

The hassles kept building for Wilson: Her brother’s car suffered damage after the tree fell on it; she didn’t immediately a place to store refrigerated food or clean drinking water; and, hot wires prevented her family from coming and going.

Wilson loved the privacy trees offered and the towering timber’s beauty that were unavailable where she lived in the Bay Area.

But the storm’s wrath has rocked her those loving feelings for swaying trees.

“It’s been one disaster after another,” Wilson said.

Nearby resident Gwen Houk, 95, whose power has been out since Sunday, said she’s doing OK.

Houk huddles in blankets when temperatures drop and leans on the support of her family. Her son-in-law recently dropped off a heater and her son whisked away collected frozen food to his home.

But, her 94-year-old husband, Richard Houk, uses an oxygenator to breathe at night. It’s been charged, but there’s only so long its energy will last, Houk said.

Despite the emotional time, area residents still expressed optimism.

“We’ll survive through it,” Wilson said.

Nevada County, which experienced some of the heaviest rainfall in Northern California, had nearly 8,000 customers without power Tuesday, according to PG&E. Other areas lacking electricity Tuesday included:

▪ Placer County (4,500 customers)

▪ Yuba County (2,400)

▪ Sutter County (1,271)

▪ El Dorado County (350)

The longest outage in PG&E territory, according to data collected by the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, was in Sonoma County, specifically in the Cazadero area. There, electricity was lost beginning just after midnight on Sunday and isn’t expected to be restored until Saturday.

Closer to the Sacramento area, the longest PG&E outage was around Fair Park on Auburn Folsom Road and Fairgate Street in Auburn, where crews were working to replace a pole that snapped. About 100 customers have been without power since 1:46 p.m. Sunday and crews were expected to have power flowing again about 10 p.m. Thursday.

Roughly 70 customers in El Dorado Hills lost power about 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the 95762 ZIP code because of a snapped power pole; their restoration time was the same, according to PG&E.

Similar outages were seen in the data in Pleasant Grove, Sutter County, where 148 customers disconnected just north of the Sacramento County line. Marysville had 71 customers in the 95901 ZIP code without power since Sunday afternoon that wasn’t expected to be restored until Wednesday; and 329 customers along Dog Bar Road south of Grass Valley lost power from a fallen wire and were expected to be restored by 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Sierra College suffers second outage

While a handful of school districts and colleges around the Sacramento region experienced power interruptions during classes Monday, including Marysville Joint Unified which canceled classes at all campuses, only Rocklin’s Sierra College remained dark on Tuesday.

Officials at the junior college said a subsequent PG&E outage Monday evening was to blame for the closure, but its satellite campus in Lake Tahoe, in Nevada County and elsewhere were back in session. Administrators said they would provide an update on whether the main campus would reopen Wednesday.

Retailer’s roof caves in from storm

Gusting gales knocked several trees into Sacramento homes and caused damage to businesses. The Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Department also went to a Dollar Tree in Citrus Heights after storm-related damage caused its roof to fall in.

“Thankfully nobody was injured,” firefighters said online. “The building will remain closed until repairs can be made.”