News

The Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services just issued an alert warning that all PG&E customers in Humboldt County will lose power before early tomorrow morning and should be prepared to be without electricity for several days.

The outage comes as extreme weather conditions are set to tighten fire risks in Humboldt and surrounding counties, causing "dangerous conditions for power transmission lines."

A press release from the county indicates the extreme weather period is expected to begin at 6 a.m. tomorrow and power will cut several hours prior. The weather is expected to subside sometime Wednesday afternoon, after which PG&E will have to inspect lines before turning the power back on, a process that could take days.

The alert notes all the information is provided by PG&E and is subject to change, adding that local temperatures are forecast to dip into the 30s tonight. OES states this will be the last alert of the day as officials prepare for the looming outage.

The Humboldt County Office of Education, meanwhile, has updated its list of school closures, which can be found here.

Those who currently have power restored are urged to make the most of this brief respite by charging electronic devices, refueling their cars and restocking their supplies.

From OES:

This is an important message from the Humboldt ALERT System
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Humboldt Alert – PG & E advises that ALL customers in Humboldt County will lose power again early Tuesday morning due to extreme weather conditions in parts of Humboldt County and surrounding counties that will cause dangerous conditions for power transmission lines. Expect power to be out several days.
Please note, all information is provided by PG & E and is subject to change at any time.
Overnight temperatures are expected to drop into the thirties to upper forties.
This will be the last Humboldt Alert for tonight as we prepare for the next scheduled outages.

From the county:

PG&E Power outage Monday afternoon UPDATE

10-28-2019

PG&E has begun restoring power to parts of the County, though power may still be out in some places. PG&E advised that the restoration process is taking longer due to infrastructure damage caused by the latest weather event. They are still attempting to restore power to as many residents as possible but cannot provide specific information on when or where that will occur. It is possible that some residents may not have power restored at all before the next weather event prompts PG&E to turn power off again.

The next weather event is currently scheduled for 6 am on Tuesday (10-29-2019) morning. The power is will be turned off several hours prior to that time. PG&E expects the weather “All clear” time to be Wednesday afternoon. These times are estimates provided by PG&E and are subject to change. Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services will provide updates as we get them.

A reminder to those who have had their power temporarily restored, use the time wisely to prepare for the next outage. If you are out and about restocking and resupplying, please be courteous to others as most everyone has been impacted by these PSPS events.

The National Weather Service in Eureka forecasts temperatures will be in the 30’s and 40’s overnight, and we encourage residents to continue to use caution when operating generators and using indoor heating devices.

Use caution when driving, as many of the traffic signals are not operational. Treat all nonoperational traffic signal intersections as a four way stop. Avoid driving if possible. If you must drive, keep an eye out for pedestrians and hazards on roadways.

Information on school closures countywide is available on the Humboldt County Office of Educations Facebook page, or contact your school district. For information on Community Resource Centers and other up-to-date info, follow the Humboldt County Office of Emergency Services Facebook page. Facebook.com/HumboldtCountyOES

Additional information will be released as it becomes available. To learn more about PSPS, go to pge.com/prepareforpowerdown or by calling 1-877-9000-PGE. Sign up to receive location-specific emergency information through Humboldt ALERTs at humboldtgov.org/alerts.