Power outages in California affect more than 850,000 customers

High winds of nearly 100 miles per hour lashed parts of California on Sunday, downing trees and power lines and affecting more than 850,000 homes and businesses across the state. without power. Utilities weren't sure when the lights would come back on.

Pacific Gas & Electric, which serves customers in Northern California, the Central Valley and the coast up to Santa Barbara, said their outages affected more than a million people on Sunday evening alone as high winds and downed trees made it impossible for crews to make a full assessment.

“Our message to customers is primarily that we are working to assess the damage,” said Denny Boyles, a PG&E spokesman.

Before the storm, the utility had warned customers to move patio furniture indoors to avoid it flying into power lines, he said, recalling a powerful storm a few years ago in which gusts of wind blew the trampoline into a customer's backyard to fly.

Santa Clara County was the hardest hit part of the state when it came to power outages. Nearly 140,000 homes and businesses were darkened Sunday evening due to high winds and heavy rain, said Scott Kleebauer, a forecaster with the National Weather Service. Flooding in the county even affected PG&E's underground equipment.

Most of California is under a wind warning or high wind warning, Mr. Kleebauer added, noting that the rain could also trigger mudslides with the potential to knock out power lines.

Several other regions were affected by power outages, including Sacramentowhere more than 170,000 customers were without power — still far fewer than the 600,000 whose electricity was knocked out during last year's storms, said Gamaliel Ortiz, a spokesman for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District.

“Last year was the benchmark for us and we know what we need to prepare for,” he said, noting that the utility had since increased the number of repair crews, adjusters and office support staff. But as the storm continued to ravage the state, worse consequences were certainly possible, Mr. Ortiz said.

“The potential for most damage is a little bit present right now,” he added. “We don't know which way it will go.”