Thousands of Oakland residents are without electricity following a night of high winds that knocked trees onto power lines and damaged PG&E equipment.
According to PG&E’s power outage map—which anyone can use to look up affected areas—portions of the following neighborhoods are without power:
- Laurel District
- Redwood Heights
- Mills
- Arroyo Viejo
- Castlemont
- Areas along International Boulevard between 79th Avenue and 98th Avenue
- Fruitvale and 23rd Avenue
- Adams Point
- Piedmont Avenue and Grand Avenue near Mountain View Cemetery
- Neighborhoods around Telegraph and Alcatraz
- Montclair
- Crocker Highlands
- Dimond
As of Saturday morning, at least 15,000 customers in Oakland are experiencing a power outage, according to the Oakland Fire Department. Power to about 2,000 customers in Fruitvale and 23rd Avenue is estimated to be restored around 12 p.m. today. Another outage affecting over 2,000 customers in Adams Point will be restored around 6 p.m., the company estimated. However, PG&E’s website does not give an estimated time of restoration for many areas.
One outage in the Laurel District was caused by a large tree that fell onto a power line last night. A resident of a nearby home said he was asleep when the tree toppled.
“It felt like an earthquake,” he said.
Equipment sparked, but no fires started. As of 10 a.m., a PG&E worker sat in a truck near the damaged power line, but work crews hadn’t arrived yet to clear debris. Around 400 customers were affected by the downed power pole.
“I’ve got food in the refrigerator that’s going to spoil,” said the man outside his home. “They might not get power back here until later today or tomorrow.”
According to the National Weather Service, wind speeds reached 60 mph last night in Oakland. Fires sparked in Big Sur and near the geysers in Sonoma County, where wind speeds reached 90 mph.
