Politics & Government
Palo Alto Utilities Prepared for Storms
Tree branches are trimmed and repair crews are standing-by for call-out. Do you have the phone number to call in case of an outage?
The storms expected to rip through Palo Alto over the next five days could drop up to four inches of rain—rain pushed sideways at times by fierce winds. The powerful combo could produce problems for City of Palo Alto Utilities crews.
While the department has ongoing programs to trim tree limbs and encourage the replacement of trees that tangle with power lines, this is a city, after all, with a tree on its official shield. Palo Alto is an urban forest and those trees have the ability to wreak havoc with your electricity.
Is your cell phone fully charged?
If trees aren’t messing with overhead power lines, water seeping underground poses its own risks. Ask the residents who had to deal with a power outage on Thanksgiving Day which was caused, according to Debra Katz, “by water leaking into an underground vault and getting into a part (a “cradled elbow”) that didn’t have a good enough leak seal---water and electricity are a bad combination!”
Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Katz is the Utilities Communications Manager.
The Utilities Department is hoping for the best, but prepared for the worst. “We have a Utilities Control Center that operates 24/7 and multiple stand-by crews available at all hours, so even if a storm’s worst impacts happen at nights or on weekends, we are prepared to respond quickly,” said Katz. “In the event of a larger scale emergency, every Utilities staff person knows they are “on call” and may need to come in to help out. We all hope that scenario never develops, but if it does, we’re ready.”
Find out what's happening in Palo Altowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Like on Thanksgiving Day.
So what do you do if your power goes out? Katz says to follow these steps:
• Call (650) 496-6914 to report your location
• Tell them whether you see down power lines or know if neighbors have power
• Cooperate when they need to access power poles and lines on your property
• Know that they are working 24/7 to restore your power
• Check the status online anytime at cityofpaloalto.org/outageinfo
Also on Palo Alto Patch:
Got Sandbags? Maybe You Should
San Francisquito Creek Ready for Rain
Stanford: Climate Change Impacts Economy
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