Thousands Without Power In Berkeley Area

BERKELEY, CA — High winds have knocked down trees and power lines in the Berkeley area, blacking out power to thousands. The largest single outage impacted more than 5,900 customers, but multiple outages are impacted Berkeley, Kensington, Albany, El Cerrito and Richmond.

The Berkeley Police Department asked drivers to avoid the 2900 block of Dwight Way east of Hillside Avenue, near the Clark Kerr campus, after a tree took down power lines.

The East Bay had more than 88,600 customers offline Tuesday afternoon, according to PG&E spokesperson Megan McFarland, while more than 275,000 PG&E customers across the Bay Area were without power.

Elsewhere in the East Bay Pleasanton, Danville, Alamo, Walnut Creek, Fremont and Pleasant Hill had thousands of customers waiting for technicians from PG&E to restore power.

The Peninsula and South Bay were also slammed.

"The storm is hitting PG&E's service area hard," McFarland said in an update.

Winds of 74 mph have been clocked at San Francisco International Airport; 97 mph at Mount Umunhum in the Santa Cruz Mountains; 93 mph along Mines Road in the East Bay; and 71 mph in the Las Trampas and Oakland hills, McFarland said.

"Elsewhere, widespread gusts 45-55 mph have been reported and will continue with isolated gusts 65+ mph possible through the Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys, as well as along the Sierra foothills and over elevated terrain," McFarland said.

PG&E officials reiterated a warning to never touch downed wires, and assume that downed power lines are energized and extremely dangerous.

Report downed power lines immediately by calling 911 and by calling PG&E at 1-800-743-5002.

For other storm related issues call 211, not 911.

Bay City News contributed to this article