A level four storm with hurricane-force winds topping 102 miles per hour leaves the Bay Area in shambles. With thousands of power outages and broken trees, Bay Area residents are left wondering: will this happen every January?
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the storm claimed three lives so far; one in Santa Cruz county from a tree falling on their house and the other two from being crushed under trees in their backyards, one in Yuba county and the other in Sacramento county.
Last year’s January storm destroyed much of the Bay Area, feeling like one of the heaviest in a while, but the National Weather Service said that this year’s storm is the strongest since Jan. 2010.
This is the second storm in Northern California to be caused by an atmospheric river, according to The Washington Post.
According to SF Gate, hundreds of flights have been canceled or delayed at San Francisco International Airport because of the extreme weather. The Oakland International and San Jose Mineta International airports have had a few cancellations and several delays.
Many De Anza College students were affected by the power outages, delaying their studies and uploading of assignments. According to a La Voz survey, 63% of De Anza students lost power during the storm, while only 36% weren’t affected.
Kai Winebarger, 20, a kinesiology major who resides in Cupertino, said he didn’t have access to the Internet all day and resorted to candles for lighting because of the power outage.
“I had to use all the data from my phone to do assignments, so it was a lot slower,” said Winebarger. “I lit a lot of candles that my fire alarm went off, but even when we opened the doors, they wouldn’t stop ringing so my dad had to change the batteries every time. It was really annoying.”
This continued until 1 a.m., leaving him with only a little sleep to survive the next day as a student athlete.
Leart Grbeshi, 25, an undecided major who lives in San Jose’s Blossom Hill neighborhood, said he resorted to his nearby Starbucks so he could finish his homework. Grbeshi said that in addition to the power outage, he didn’t have any cellular service in his neighborhood so he couldn’t even use his data.
Despite the chaos, Grbeshi said he found peace in the eye of the storm and that without cellular service, he got to “bond with (his) dad and sister and realized they’re actually kinda cool.”
Grbeshi also said that his neighborhood came together during the storm to move uprooted trees, creating a sense of community in the midst of havoc.
Jack Park, 18, a chemical engineering major, said he had to leave his home in Saratoga to complete his assignments and studies at his friends’ houses, which still had power.
“Given that the power was out only for 24 hours, it didn’t have a drastic impact on my academics but I did have to go out of my way in order to get things like studying and homework done,” said Park.
As of the weekend of Feb. 9, PG&E has worked on restoring power to neighborhoods, allowing Bay Area residents to return to their typical, daily routines. The National Weather Service predicts the weather to clear up until the rain, much lighter than the storms before, begins again on Wednesday.
