Photo Credit: SMUD Information Officer Lindsay VanLaningham

Powerful winds and rain have caused wide swept power outages affecting over 100,000 Sacramento County residents.

Many Elk Grove and Sacramento homes were left in the dark Sunday evening as an intense storm brought winds up to 35 mph, causing downed trees and damaged equipment around the city. At its peak, 115,000 Sacramento area customers were without power.

Outages at 7:30PM on January 6

Currently, SMUD has over 30 crews surveying damage and making repairs across Sacramento County. The severity of repairs varies from damaged equipment to downed trees covering lines and tilting poles.

As of 7:30 PM over 31,000 Elk Grove residents and another 36,000 resident of the Cosumnes, Florin, and Pocket/Greenhaven neighborhoods were without power. Acting quickly, SMUD crews had restored 24,0000 Elk Grove residents by 9PM. Unfortunately, Vintage Park, Florin, Cosumnes and Pocket/Greenhaven area residents were still without lights as of 9PM January 6.

Regrettably, SMUD says restoration times will  vary as the storm restricts crews safety. “With winds past 35 mph, repairs requiring truck ladders and cherry pickers are too high a safety risk for our crews to perform during the storm. However, our crews are prepared and are working to get power restored quickly.”

Photo Credit: Jack Eddy Jr.

Reporting Outages and Other Important Info

In the event you come find a downed power line, you can report it to SMUD or call 911. Outages can be reported online at  smud.org/outages or by calling SMUD at 1-888-456-7683. Real time information and estimated restoration times can be accessed at smud.org/outages.

During an outage, SMUD recommends you “switch off all electrical appliances and lights – except for the porch light so that crews can tell when things are back to normal. Commonly overlooked, this steps important to help prevent a power surge when the neighborhood is back on-line. Per SMUD’s website it is the customers “responsibility to protect electronic equipment against power fluctuations. ”

How To Prepare For An Outage?

SMUD suggests customers put together a basic emergency kit consisting of:

• Flashlight
• Bottled water
• Extra batteries
• Wind-up clock
• Manual can opener
• Battery-operated radio or TV

For more information visit SMUD’s Storm Safety page for storm preparation and safety tips.

Updates

As of 10:00 PM (Jan 6) –  Elk Grove Tribune readers report continued outages in the Vintage Park, Grant Line and Bond, and Gerber and Bradshaw areas.

As of 11:00 PM (Jan 6) – 85,000 customers have restored power. 731 Elk Grove, 2611 Florin, and 30,869 Sacramento County residents without power with 372 outage points.

As of 12:45 AM (Jan 7) – 88,600 customers have restored power. Outages in Elk Grove have increased to 913 customers. The Florin area regained some power as only 1763 residents are without power. Areas East of 99 continue to have the most outages. However, 263 residents in the City of Galt recently lost power. Other utilities also appear to be having outages as Comcast and Consolidated Communications both have reported outages in the area.

As of 3:30 AM (Jan 7) – 100,863 customers have restored power. Outages in Elk Grove have decreased to 873 customers. In the Florin area, 989 are without power. 131 outage points have been fixed. Areas East of 99 continue to have the most outages. Comcast and Consolidated Communications continue to have outages. Internet in some parts of Sacramento County seem to be down.

Photo Credit: SMUD Information Officer Lindsay VanLaningham