Thousands of local residents without power during red flag warning
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION) Thousands of Central Coast residents woke up without power this morning, mostly in the Santa Cruz County area.
A Red Flag Warning was issued on Monday evening by the National Weather Service due to strong winds. Winds gusted up to 81mph in the Santa Cruz Mountains at Mount Umunhum.
Santa Cruz & Moss Landing saw wind gust in the 40 to 50 mph range.
In the Santa Cruz mountains, there were numerous reports of trees and power lines down which caused road closures. Soquel-San Jose Road was closed around 6:15 a.m. and remains closed as of now. Small spot fires were also reported in the area.
Other smaller power outages persist across the rest of the viewing area. This includes much of the Big Sur Coast, portions of the Oak Hills area near Prunedale, and the rural areas along Panoche Road in San Benito County.
Local fire departments say they have increased staff and resources to stay prepared in case of any possible accidents.
High Wind Warnings will expire at 10 a.m. and will be replaced with wind advisories, joining other areas under advisories through 6 p.m. A Red Flag Warning remains in effect for the mountains of Monterey & San Benito Counties until 7 p.m.
