Power Outages in the Santa Cruz Mountains due to high winds

BEN LOMOND, Calif. (KION-TV): Preparing for power outages in Ben Lomond for business owners starts as soon as word of any storm comes. Ben Lomond and other parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains are prone to these types of outages.

Mo L'esperance, owner of Coffee Nine in Ben Lomond, bought her shop just this year, and she's experienced not just one power outage, but three this year.

"It's frustrating," said L'esperance. "Just like any homeowner or other business owners, I'm sure they are also frustrated. There is nothing we can do, other than just roll with it."

This comes after gusty winds Tuesday night, causing thousands of people to lose power. Despite L'esperance having to lose power multiple times, her shop stays open with the help of a generator.

"We are very thankful that we have a generator, " said L'esperance. "And we just try to stay open as possible to make sure people still get coffee in the morning."

And businesses weren't the only ones dealing with outages as homeowners faced the same issues well into Wednesday. Some say that it happens so often, however, that they're used to it.

"I've been here since 1971," said Scott Lavelle. "So, I've been around for a while, we've lost power, it's not unusual in the winter time."

Mo says that she would like PG&E, to be able to send notifications to the public, when there is a power outage.

As for restoring power, PG&E says they use prediction models to determine the timing, location, and number of outages.

You can check if your area has been affected by power outages, on the PG&E website.