People head to local resource centers as thousands of customers on the Monterey Peninsula still remain without power

PACIFIC GROVE, Calif. (KION) - UPDATE ON FEB. 6, 2024 AT 5:15 PM- For some business owners, the winter storms are leaving a hard hit on their pockets as several businesses have been without power since Sunday.

Thousands of customers in PG&E remain affected by lack of electricity some businesses have had to resort to generators to preserve their products.

The storm that arrived over the weekend left people across Monterey County without power. Although PG&E has restored service in different regions, Pacific Grove remains without power.

Several businesses remain closed since Sunday due to power outages; the owners of Cafe Guarani, for example, have thrown away thousands of dollars worth of food due to lack of refrigeration

"This is the second time this has happened to us, this time it was not so much, but we have been without electricity since Sunday afternoon, we continue cleaning, but we cannot open to the public,” said Liliana Rodas de Araujo, owner of Cafe Guarani in Pacific Grove.

Araujo said that even with light generators, business losses increase, and at least 8 employees at Cafe Guaraní are out of work

"We have lost more or less 10 thousand dollars between clients and orders that we have to take to the Farmers Market," Araujo said.

The wind and rain from the storm on Sunday caused several trees to fall, in some cases, knocking down electrical wiring, causing power outages, mainly on the Peninsula.

Aurora Unshelm, is one of the more than 500 people affected. In recent days, he has gone to the resource center, set up by Monterey County at the Asilomar Conference Center Social Hall.

Among the services, the County of Monterey offers to restore the charge in your electronic devices, they can also refrigerate medicines and food for immediate consumption.

"We have spent a few days locked in due to the lack of electricity and heavy rains," Unshelm said. "The neighborhood is without electricity, surely many have lost their groceries."

The County of Monterey says at least five charging stations are available in cities across the region, including Monterey, Carmel Valley, and Salinas. PG&E informs its customers that electricity service could be restored until Thursday.

Monterey Peninsula storm aftermath, thousands of customers still without power

Tens of thousands of PG&E customers are still without power on the Central Coast. Those outages were caused by the brutal winds on Sunday afternoon.

"It was like, was like somebody picked up a big bucket of dirt and just threw it up in the air," said Harry who lives in Pacific Grove.

Harry was out during the brunt of the storm and says the wind and dirt hitting his face was not the worst part.

"There's a big branch and It fell off the tree," said Harry. Well, I was standing under the other tree,"

PG&E says the soil was so saturated from last years and this years storms that it caused healthy trees to fall.

Others who came to visit the central coast like Ginger Turkos who was visiting Los Angeles said they picked a hectic week to come.

"It started raining, around five the wind picking up," Turkos said. "And when we arrived at the hotel, all of a sudden there was this big bang,"

PG&E says this has been one of the most hectic storms they've had to deal with.

"In terms of outage totals, this was one of the again, one of the top three most damaging single day storms on record, only comparable to storms in 1995 and 2008," said Teresa Alvarado, PG&E Vice President for South Bay and Central Coast region.

Over 3,000 PG&E employees are dealing with repairs on the Central Coast. PG&E says they are prioritizing where to restore power like hospitals, airports, and schools.

PG&E says now that the brunt of the storm is over they will now be focusing on safely restoring power to customers.

To check on the latest power outages by county, click here.