Point Reyes Light - November 14, 2002

A day-long 'hurricane' Point Reyes

By Andrew Pridgen

A day of hurricane-force winds last Thursday knocked down trees and powerlines throughout West Marin and blacked out parts of Inverness for almost three days.

Blackouts that lasted for more than a day were also reported from Inverness Park to Stinson Beach and Bolinas, but by far the most homes and businesses losing electricity were in the San Geronimo Valley.

The storm also set a record for the highest steady winds at this time of year. At the height of the storm on Thursday, winds clocked at the Point Reyes Lighthouse were gusting at 88 mph. Winds are considered to have reached hurricane force at 74 mph, and for most of Thursday, Point Reyes was slammed at 61 to 70 mph.

County firefighters called the three-day storm the "nastiest" beginning to winter in recent history.

The storm dropped three to six inches of rain throughout West Marin after more than six months without precipitation.

In Point Reyes Station, six trees fell in front of Anne Dick’s bed and breakfast inn on Mesa Road, blacking out the northern end of town Thursday night.

The blackout, which began at 7:30 p.m. left households on Mesa Road north of the Red Barn without power for two days, said resident Art Rogers, a Light photography correspondent.

"Surprisingly, I thought PG&E did a great job," said Rogers. "The crews got here at 11 at night [on Thursday] and worked on it well into the night. Fortunately, most of us who have [septic] mounds have pumps that can go for about three days [without power]. We got through this first one intact, but it may be a long winter."

Looking over the Point Reyes Station power problems early on Friday, PG&E engineer Paul Lucas was impressed by the severity of the windstorm in the area. "The steel that tethers the powerlines is very strong," he said, "and usually bends but does not break." Pointing to a broken, no-longer-hot powerline that lay on the ground, Lucas remarked, "This one just snapped. There must have been quite some force...A lot of places took a big hit.

In Point Reyes Station, 116 businesses and households lost power for varying periods between last Thursday and Saturday, PG&E reported. In Hicks Valley, a large tree split in half along the Point Reyes-Petaluma Road in front of the Spaletta Ranch, causing no damage to powerlines but forcing traffic to use alternate routes.

The storm, in fact, closed numerous roads in West Marin. Here are town-by-town examples of the damage.

In Olema, at 7:54 a.m. on Thursday, the Highway Patrol reported an officer and townspeople were busily cutting up a tree had fallen across both lanes of Highway 1. Although Inverness and Inverness Park residents also needed help from county and Inverness firefighters, PG&E, and law enforcement agencies to help fix and control the storm’s damage, the damage was less than expected said Inverness Fire Chief Jim Fox. "We were really worried there for a while when those winds came up. We started bracing ourselves for the worst...You go so long with nothing happening and then all of a sudden, wham!

"I will say though, we could’ve taken a worse hit, all things considered."

However, the fact that most of Inverness and Inverness Park survived the storm with minimal blackouts was of little consolation to residents who lost power for three days.

The PG&E system broke down in 17 places, blacking out 132 households and businesses, PG&E officials said.

Inverness resident Sue Van Der Wal said she lost power in her home on Thursday morning and it was not restored until Saturday. This was the longest time period without power for Van Der Wal and her husband since they moved into the home 19 years ago.

"Ironically, the day we moved in the power went off for three days," she said. "I don’t know if that was an sign or what. But, fortunately we’ve been happy here with or without the storms." Van Der Wal said that the Inverness Store let her use its freezer to store a significant amount of frozen salmon. Beyond that, she added, getting along without power is a matter of being prepared with flashlights, books, candles, a non-electric stove, and, of course, plenty of wine.

"People have to understand that’s part of living out here," she said. "If you’re afraid of fires or power outages, then go live in cement land."

Van Der Wal did note that PG&E ought to change its recording that is supposed to inform customers when they will get power back. "I know that on their grids we’re not a very populated area out here," she said.

"We’ve understood that we fall low on the priority list for years during major storms. However, you get the same recording and no idea when people are going to come out and help. And there’s no way that someone is ever going to call you back, so you’re at their mercy with little information to go on. That’s the frustrating part."

Aside from falling trees and branches, as well as rain-loosened boulders that rolled onto Highway 1, Bolinas and Stinson Beach escaped the worst of the storm. In Bolinas three PG&E households were blacked out, PG&E reported, and in Stinson Beach 22 households and businesses went without power for part of the storm.

No blackouts were reported in Tomales although the storm was so severe early Friday morning that neither deputies nor county firefighters in Tomales could respond to the report of a possible housefire on Oceana Drive in Dillon Beach; fallen trees and debris cut off roads into town.

Luckily, it turned out that the smoke was coming from a chimney, firefighters reported later.

Hit hardest by the storm was the San Geronimo Valley. PG&E officials reported in San Geronimo two blackouts left 243 households and businesses out of power Thursday night. In Woodacre, four blackouts cut electricity to the homes of 771 households and businesses. In Woodacre alone, 612 households and businesses lost power.

"Those were pretty significant outages," said PG&E spokesman Lloyd Coker. "A tree went through a line and took the main wire down."

The powerline came down around 7:30 a.m. Friday at Madrone Avenue and Redwood Drive. Coker said PG&E crews restored power by Saturday evening.

Asked about the complaint of West Marin residents that they are the first towns hit by major storms and last to have power restored, the PG&E spokesman on Tuesday told The Light that company policy is to first restore power to emergency services buildings like hospitals first, water-treatment and sewage-treatment facilities second, and then largely populated "blocks" after that.

"Unfortunately, six customers on one circuit are not going to get attention as quickly as 6,000 customers elsewhere," said Coker. "It’s a policy we’ve had for years."

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