CLEARLAKE — Snow dumped on Lake County last week causing numerous road and school closures, traffic collisions power outages from downed trees tumbling falling on power lines.
And it”s due to happen again.
Late morning Thursday, county crews reported more than five inches of snow on the road on Highway 53, four to six inches in Middletown, three inches in Lower Lake, more than one foot in Cobb and more than three inches in Clear Lake Riviera, Buckingham, Riviera West and Riviera Heights.
According to Lake County Road Superintendent Stephen Stangland, by early afternoon, there was an “unconfirmed report of all roads in and out of the county being closed.”
California Highway Patrol (CHP) Public Information Officer, Steve Tanguay said, that “at one point on Thursday, every artery out of Lake County was closed.”
Tanguay said he has been here nearly 10 years and never seen a day so chaotic.
Severe weather is predicted today through Friday. Tanguay said CHP is prepared with extra patrol. Officials advise people to limit travels to emergencies only during storm weather. “
Clausen said people should remember to slow down when driving. “We saw many traffic accidents during the recent storm because of traveling too fast for conditions,” Clausen said. “If a motorist comes upon an accident, they should avoid the area completely instead of trying to go around it because he said that usually causes more accidents.
According to Clausen at one point on Thursday, the police department had 79 incidents logged into its dispatch center within an hour period of time. “We had all available personnel out trying to respond to calls for service but found that access was limited due to the number of traffic accidents and roadways being blocked by vehicles and other debris,” he said. “The situation was complicated by limited resources and power outages, which included all the fueling stations.”
A 10-car pile-up occurred mid-morning on Davis Avenue in Clearlake Thursday. “Loss of traction problems created by the adverse weather caused a major traffic pile-up on Davis Avenue completely blocking the roadway preventing access for emergency vehicles to the avenues,” Clausen said.
Clearlake Public Works Director Doug Herren said the department had its hands full with trees, heavy with snow, snapping and falling left and right. He said the department was overwhelmed and didn”t see it coming. “Trees were snapping and falling as we were working on them,” he said. “We worked hand-in-hand with PG&E through the night, getting lines cleared and power restored.”
Herren continued, “I have to recognize Supervisor Jeff Smith and kudos to him. He was out there helping us put down sand all night, from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.”
PG&E spokesperson Brandi Ehlers said Tuesday that most service has been restored. “At this time we are down to 10 customers without power in the Cobb area. All the rest of the outages, luckily, have been restored. We try really hard to restore power in the quickest and safest way possible.”
Ehlers said PG&E brought three helicopters into the area to assist with power restoration efforts. “We used those helicopters to patrol our lines to identify down trees and lines, basically what is causing the outages. When there is a lot of snow or bad weather they can patrol those areas a lot quicker than we can via vehicles or on foot. Also the helicopters can be used to bring in materials, like poles, when access is limited and we can”t through because of downed trees or road closures due to snow.”
Ehlers said PG&E worked cooperatively with other agencies and brought extra crews into areas with severe problems. She said as of Tuesday, crews were basically demobilizing from the Lake County area. She said PG&E is prepared for the predicted storm.
