Storm leaves hundreds in Hollister without power

“I usually use it for shade in the summer,” said Fabian Curiel, a neighbor on Sally Street.

Winds gusting as fast as 60 miles per hour in Hollister uprooted a neighborhood landmark, a tree that has stood on the corner of Sally Street and Hawkins Street for decades.

“It’s a big tree around the neighborhood, I don’t think there’s another one like it,” Curiel said.

And wind knocked down power lines also, leaving many neighbors without electricity for 10 hours.

“When I came out, there are live wires and stuff, that’s why the police came,” said neighbor Manuel Vargas.

At the height of the outage, PG&E said 130,000 customers on the Central Coast were without power.

Thousands of employees are working through the night in affected areas.

“It’s all hands on deck, the central coast has been hit the hardest in PG&E service area, and that’s the area, and that’s where we are focusing to restore power to our customers,” PG&E spokesperson Myra Tostado said.

Vargas said he has experienced power outages in the neighborhood, and there’s not much he could do.

“Just sit there and wait, you know what I’m saying, you don’t open your fridge or nothing,” Vargas said.

On Friday, Vargas and other neighbors are on edge with power lines still hanging dangerously low.

“Hopefully no big truck will come by and knock that wire down,” Vargas said.

“Hopefully, I don’t wake up and there is a power line down right in front of my door,” Curiel said.

Hollister police said there were also four gas leaks reported Friday morning, those areas have been deemed safe.