As Pacific Gas & Electric Company’s planned power shutoffs began to affect residents and businesses throughout Northern and Central California on Wednesday, more than 500,000 customers were without power including more than 37,000 in Lake County. Although a number of critical services and facilities such as hospitals, the courthouse and the county jail remained open, the only operational community resource center in the county located next to the Clearlake Senior Center located at 3245 Bowers Ave was bustling with activity starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday Oct. 9. By approximately 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to PG&E employees manning the temporary facility, about 40 people had made use of the center to recharge their devices, obtain water and in the case of some medical baseline costumers, hook up their oxygen machines and vital medical equipment. “I am really happy, this has been a pretty well attended event,” said PG&E program manager Conrad Aspe. He added that he expected about 200 to 300 by the end of the day Thursday. Meanwhile retailers throughout the area used generators to stay open while customers experienced long lines for food and gas among other hardships. Here are some images from this week’s shutoffs. Photos by Ariel Carmona Jr- Lake County Publishing
