Nearly 9,000 San Diego Gas & Electric customers were without power Wednesday afternoon due to Public Safety Power Shutoffs, with more than 69,000 others at risk of being shut off due to weather conditions.
As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, 8,991 SDG&E customers in rural communities, such as Alpine, Boulevard, Campo, Julian, Pine Valley and parts of Escondido and Valley Center had their power shut off as a precaution amid high winds and low humidity.
According to the utility, portions of Chula Vista, El Cajon, Poway, Ramona, La Mesa and Santee among others could also see shutoffs depending on weather conditions.
Ramona resident Victoria Silvera said she is ready if her power is shut off.
"We've got it down, and with the generator and we have gasoline," she said.
Living in a high-fire-risk area, Silvera doens't blame the utility for cutting the power. She remembers having to evacuate during the Cedar and Witch Creek fires.
“We did get high winds and I agree," she said. "It was good that they did shut it off."
Officials said SDG&E's emergency operations center was monitoring the high winds and wildfire conditions and will de-energize its equipment as needed.
Power will be restored when conditions improve, the company said in a statement.
This week is the driest start to the rainy season in the county in 174 years, the company said.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for parts of the county through late Friday night because of the dry conditions and expected Santa Ana winds.
“(Thursday), into the late afternoon hours, we're going to start to see another pulse of Santa Ana winds, but this time easterly Santa Ana winds, where we'll start to see some pretty gusty winds in the mountains,” said Sebastian Westerink with NWS San Diego.
He said the region could see winds of 30 to 40 mph in the valleys and foothills, with gusts up to 70 mph in the mountains.
The National Weather Service said critical fire weather conditions will continue through Friday, and there is potential for another moderate Santa Ana next week.
That could mean more power shutoffs.
For those affected by the outage, community resource centers equipped with wi-fi, charging stations for phones and medical devices are open to the public. A list of impacted communities and community resource centers an be found at sdge.com/ready.
