NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — The Nevada County Office of Emergency Services is expecting the incoming winter storm to be one of the most powerful weather systems so far this year.
"We do expect those areas below 3,000 feet to be severely impacted by heavy winds that we're going to see tomorrow (Friday) afternoon, and the rain, so the wind will likely bring down trees into power lines and trees across roads," said Nevada County OES program manager Paul Cummings.
He says the same challenge is expected for areas above 3,000 feet, except they'll be locked in by snow. He says they're working with Nevada City, Truckee, Grass Valley and other local stakeholders to keep people safe, including PG&E.
"A lot of work is underway. We're bringing in additional crews. We will be establishing laydown yards to bring in more materials, because we anticipate quite a lot of materials are going to be needed for this job," said PG&E spokesman Paul Moreno.
Moreno says they're taking lessons learned from previous storms to better assist customers.
"We want customers to have information as to when they expect their power to be restored. Very early on in a significant event our first priority is to make safe situations, such as downed power lines and poles across roads," said Moreno.
Nevada County Road Services also have their work cut out for them.
"We have 236 miles of road that we have routine plow routes on, so we have equipment that is strategically placed out in the field," said Nevada County Road Services manager John Veasey.
Crews will split into day/night shifts and turn into 24-hour operations.
People can sign up for Code Red or call 211 to sign up for emergency services. Residents are being encouraged to fill up their gas tanks, have a generator ready to go and keep flashlights on hand.
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