Central Coast downpour leaves thousands without power

Collisions, downed power lines and minor slides were the result of heavy rains and gusty winds.

“The rain started coming down pretty hard, pretty torrential,” said Soquel resident Dean Corona. “We got a lot of water coming down the hill and then all of a sudden we lost power.”

Trees falling on lines left more than 4,000 people without power on the Central Coast

Most of those in Santa Cruz County.

“We’re going to be out all day and night just getting people’s power back on,” said PG&E foreman Arnold Gonzalez.

At least 300 people in Soquel were without power and PG&E said a tree was to blame.

“The tree you know being old the roots just fell over,” said Gonzalez. “We gotta put up quite a bit of new overhead wire.”

PG&E estimates getting things re-energized can take hours.

“We got a wood stove in the main house and got a teakettle going on in there,” said Corona.

Streets were closed down for repairs. Some people had a hard time getting home.

“I couldn’t get through here so I ate at Denny’s,’ said Soquel resident Lloyd Kapp. “My wife’s probably wondering where I’m at because her phone was down.”

The California Highway Patrol said they typically start to see a lot of accidents after a storm hits.

“Unfortunately once you see blue sky come out even though the roads are still wet people think oh its safer to drive a little quicker,” said California Highway Patrol officer Bradley Sadek. “But the danger is not necessarily the water coming, it’s the water on the roadway.”

The CHP advises drivers to slow down, leave enough space between cars and as much as possible look ahead down the road.

“What that does is it allows you to see something and react to it in advance of actually needing to,” said Sadek.