1) Holy mother of storms. The “bomb cyclone” that rocked the North Bay — and the rest of California — over the weekend reportedly brought around 3 to 6 inches of rain to Sonoma and Napa counties, flooding dozens of low-lying roads and pushing local waterways to the brink. But the real headline was the raging, “hurricane-force” winds that reportedly got up to 80-plus mph in some places. One Sonoma County official tells the Press Democrat that this storm has been “probably the worst we have seen when it comes to trees and power lines down countywide.” While some parts of the state were most affected by the actual rainwater and flooding, the big issue here in Sonoma and Napa counties was all the trees toppling due to soggy soil and intense gusts — damaging cars and houses; blocking roadways, including the 101 at times; and falling onto power lines. This led to widespread power outages at tens of thousands of homes and businesses. As of Tuesday afternoon, the PG&E power-outage map showed many thousands STILL without power across both counties, some with estimated repair times of hours or even days ahead. The blackout situation today looked the worst in the Windsor, Guerneville, Bohemian Highway and Valley Ford areas. A bunch of local schools were also closed yesterday and today due to power outages and “other storm-related impacts.” (For what it’s worth, one alert issued by Napa County officials during the storm indicated that PG&E had passed its “major event threshold,” meaning crews started prioritizing “responding to new roadway/safety incidents for downed lines” over “restoration efforts for many customers who are still without power.”) Despite all that, I haven’t seen any news of injuries, deaths or other major disasters in our area; some other parts of California haven’t been so lucky. (Source: PG&E & Sonoma County Office of Education via Facebook & SF Gate & Press Democrat & Press Democrat; paywall)
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