NEVADA COUNTY, Calif. — Nearly 6,000 customers remain without power in parts of Nevada County after winter storms dumped several inches of snow over consecutive days.
PG&E says crews have been working for eleven days straight in the western part of the county to get the power back on, with more than 1,000 individual damage locations -- almost all of them due to falling trees.
"PG&E says we’re supposed to get the power by Wednesday, but I don’t believe it," said Nancy Sturk, who has been without power for more than a week.
"I think they’ve got to put that pole together first," she said, gesturing at a power pole that snapped near the entrance to her long driveway.
Sturk is among the many people in rural parts of the county who prepare for such outages, with propane-powered heat and fuel generators for electricity.
But many others need help. For them, an emergency shelter at the Veterans Memorial Building in Grass Valley offers the basics -- warm cots and hot showers.
The Nevada County Consolidated Fire District said in the last ten days, the agency responded to more than 200 emergencies, seven structure fires, more than 100 medical and emergency calls as well as 30 structural collapses.
The county said the number of welfare checks has quadrupled from a normal week.
Ian Russell could be seen using a John Deere tractor to plow out his drive Wednesday, hopeful to have a propane delivery later this week.
"We were pretty prepared," Russell said. "It was just mostly watching the snowflakes fall."
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