‘It’s getting old’: Santa Cruz mountain dwellers survive days without electricity

The clouds may have cleared, but the problems for people living in the Santa Cruz Mountains remain.

The relentless hurricanes toppled trees, branches caught in wires, and yards were covered in snow. PG&E crews worked all week to restore power, but getting to problem areas was not easy.

Sandy Parker relies on generators to keep the lights on in her home.

“It’s getting old,” she said. “Usually we can work from one to three days and then everything comes back. Now it’s like, “Oh, today is the sixth day.” It’s just boring. We need to run to the city center and get gasoline for the generator.”

When she tries to turn on the sink, she gets nothing. The same goes for her soul.

“There is no running water,” she said. “We are digging wells here on the mountain. Everyone uses the well. When there’s no electricity, you don’t have a well pump.”

This means that she has to drive to Los Gatos every day.

“We go downtown to shower at friends’ houses and at the gym,” she said.

She is not alone. Hundreds of other PG&E customers were also without power for several days, including Ben Abelna’s mother.

“She is now on her sixth day,” he said.

He said it was difficult to fill the generators with propane.

“It was extremely difficult to get propane, especially here because of the road conditions,” he said.

Now Parker is preparing for the worst.

“I just heard that it could be five more days,” she said. “Now I’m becoming a true pioneer.”