Preparing for Storms in Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CALIFORNIA. (KION-TV) – Strong winds blow in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The forecast for our area is rain and snow.

According to our Chief Meteorologist Dann Cianki, the winter weather advice that comes with it doesn’t happen very often.

Santa Cruz County Public Information Officer Jason Hoppin also explained how they see the next round of rain and snow.

“It’s just another weather system,” Hoppin said. “It’s unusually cold and has some unusual mountain conditions that hopefully won’t create too much of a problem for our residents.”

This weather could also cause power outages and even delay repairs that are still underway from the previous storm, according to Cal-Trans communications officer Kevin Drabinski.

“So, on Highway 9, we still have a holiday ride that we’re working on,” Drabinski said. “So, we have a few weeks before the potential opening of this road. One of the things we will do when it rains is that we stop all work around the slide. There will be no workers under the hill.”

To prepare for the next hurricane, PG&E spokesman Tamar Sargsyan and Drabinsky explain how they’ve deployed people and kept the roads safe.

“The main thing we do, especially in mountainous areas, but even on major roads and Highway 101, is to really keep the drainage infrastructure open,” Drabinski said.

“We have technology that helps us determine where we need to place our teams,” Sargsyan said. “We also have a lot of standby equipment ready to go in case we damage our equipment due to these winds.”

This training requires more than just companies training their crews and equipment. Affected communities are just as important as workers.

“This community is really amazing,” Sargsyan said. “We know they go through a lot because there are access issues. So sometimes it may take us a little longer to access equipment in the Santa Cruz Mountains and other parts of the Central Coast.”

As we speak, PG&E is already receiving reports of weather-related outages. Hundreds of people have reported power outages in parts of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Santa Cruz County is also urging those who live in the Santa Cruz Mountains to limit travel as black ice will be a factor when it gets colder.