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Residents express frustration over power outages

Business owners at a shopping center in Scotts Valley had a stressful couple of days trying to figure out whether to stay open or not because of the power outages affecting much of Santa Cruz County.

Kao Sook Thai Cuisine in Scotts Valley was packed for dinner on Thursday night with power restored, but on Wednesday, they were forced to close early.

“Not too many customers at the lunch time because I think everybody concerned about the outage,” said Nantaporn Kachinthorn, the owner of Kao Sook Thai Cuisine.

On Thursday, the restaurant was lucky enough to at least get electricity, but other utilities were not working.

“We tried to come here to look but the Internet not working, the phone not working,” said Kachinthorn.

With power getting restored across Santa Cruz County, more and more residents were coming out again to get on with life, recounting the stresses of the outages.

“It’s been a whirlwind day. Our electricity went out last night about 11:30 and we didn’t know how long it was going to stay off. We thought maybe it could’ve been up to seven days,” said Gene Hunt, an Aptos resident.

“Uh, it’s been problematic, no doubt. I work from home, so I’m trying to do more and more off my phone, which has been difficult. And recharging that in my car,” said Joshua Wapner, another Aptos resident.

At the Aptos Village shopping area, many residents were frustrated. Their expected outage time kept getting pushed back, but they had to plan for the worst. And once the lights went out, there was little idea of when it would return.

“I asked them, they said it should be on later today, which makes me wonder why I bought so much soup earlier,” said Wapner.

People are hoping the outages are not the new norm around Santa Cruz County whenever fire risk rears its head. Some complained they did not have enough advance notice about what would happen, but others argue PG&E did their best.

“Well they did call us. I got all kinds of text messages. I credit them for doing that, at least we had a heads up on it if you had a cell phone,” said Hunt.

KION 2019

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