PG&E Works to restore power to Prunedale

PG&E at work bringing power back to residents in Prunedale. Some have been without power for five days now.

PG&E says they’re working to bring power back as soon as possible but, the recent storms have added even more challenges than previous ones.

Around 11 Tuesday morning, more than 30,000 people on the Central Coast were still without power, forcing some families to take extreme measures just to do simple tasks.

“We have family that [live in Morgan Hill] so we were able to just get the kids a bath and get away for a little bit.” said resident Melissa Flores.

A luxury Flores and her family may not get again anytime soon.

“Now because of traffic, we’re stuck here for today and who knows how much longer”

We visited PG&E crews at their base camp at the Salinas Sports Complex as they prepared to head out to complete work in Prunedale.

Restoration has been all but simple for crews thanks to new challenges from the weather.

“We’ve had a lot of access issues with trees coming down” said PG&E spokesperson Mayra Tostado. “Especially eucalyptus trees in Prunedale.”

When that happens, PG&E has to bring in an independently contracted vegetation crew to clear the road so they can make their repairs.

And that’s not all, the weather has changed the ground in many areas, requiring them to put in new power poles.

“It’s essential and critical for us to go in there and be able to address those hazards but also rebuild the infrastructure. There’s a lot of work that goes on” said Tostado.

Though residents know it requires a lot to bring power back, they’re looking forward to getting back to their routines.

“We’re hoping that they’re able to fix those wires up there and hopefully we get [power] back on so the kids can go to school tomorrow.” said Flores.

At last check PG&E says 14,000 are now without power. They say that if you have a long duration outage and your food spoils, you can file a claim here.

You can also call 1-800-743-5000.