Powerful Storm Knocks Out Power To Thousands Of North Bay Customers

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — More than 25,000 Bay Area PG&E customers including thousands in the North Bay were without power Wednesday afternoon as wind and rain swept through the Bay Area.

The greatest number of outages is on the Peninsula, with 16,545 customers in the dark, according to totals released by PG&E as of 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Another 4,898 customers were without power in the South Bay, along with 3,307 in the North Bay, 759 in the East Bay, and 95 customers in San Francisco.

Lucas Valley Road has reopened from Nicasio Valley Road to Big Rock after it was closed due to downed power lines across the road.

A wind warning remains in effect for the Bay Area through Thursday at 10 a.m. with gusts as high as 70 mph possible in certain areas.

The National Weather Service has High Wind Warning for the entire Bay Area through 4 a.m. Thursday, and a Flood Watch for the region through Thursday afternoon.

The storm, driven by moisture and winds forming over the Pacific Ocean, is expected to be so strong that the NWS issued a flood watch and high wind advisory for the entire Bay Area.

NWS officials predicted that the storm, expected to last into Thursday, will be "one of the most impactful systems" the region has seen in some time.

"The impacts will include widespread flooding, roads washing out, hillside collapsing, trees down (potentially full groves), widespread power outages, immediate disruption to commerce, and the worst of all, likely loss of human life," the NWS said in a statement Monday.

"This is truly a brutal system that we are looking at and needs to be taken seriously."

For updated information on power outages, visit PG&E's outage locator.

— Bay City News contributed to this report.