UPDATED: First Alert Weather Center
UPDATED 5:20 p.m.
Almost 6,000 PG&E customers remain without power:
Arroyo Grande: 590 Avila Beach: 910 Buellton: 81 Morro Bay: 52 Pismo Beach: 1000 Cambria: 80 Lompoc: 1110 San Luis Obispo: 779 Paso Robles: 35 Templeton: 2 Santa Maria: 743 Grover Beach: 270 Nipomo: 45 Santa Ynez: 100 Solvang: 143
UPDATED 12:30 p.m.
From the City of Santa Maria:
Gusty winds and torrential rains deluged Santa Maria Thursday night, dumping 3.16 inches of rain within a few hours and causing widespread damage. No life-threatening injuries were reported. The storm knocked down numerous trees and branches including some onto vehicles and residences, created power outages to thousands of PG&E customers, and localized street flooding including the flooding of City Fire Station No. 1 on Cook Street.
The powerful storm was the strongest that the region experienced in several years. Fortunately, the City’s water and wastewater system is stable despite high inflows, PG&E is restoring power, and street flooding is subsiding as of Friday morning. Street flooding occurred largely on streets that are prone to flooding. Runoff flowed into City retention basins, filling them several feet deep, and today that water is fortunately recharging our groundwater basin.
The Santa Maria Fire Department responded to 41 calls for service in a 12-hour period. The Police Department also responded to many calls for service, and Parks personnel responded to 28 calls for service regarding downed trees and/or large tree branches.
At Fire Station No. 1, 300 W. Cook Street, the entire living area was completely flooded. Such a large volume of water came down that the existing drainage system was overwhelmed and water migrated inside of the station. Restoration crews are on-scene assessing the damage. On a temporary basis, Station 1’s crews will be redeployed to Fire Station No. 3 near Preisker Park, but emergency response coverage to the downtown area will not be affected.
Road closures due to flooding last night included:
Black Road between Main Street (Highway 166) and Betteravia Road
Stowell Road between Hanson Way and Black Road
Sonya between Depot and Thornburg
Jones between Bradley and South Suey Road
West Williams Street between Alison Ave and Dejoy Street
All of those roads were reopened Friday.
City crews and the City’s contracted arborist company worked late into Thursday night and Friday morning to remove downed trees and hanging limbs from main roads and residential streets.
Lingering showers may occur today and tonight. Another storm is predicted to arrive in the region early next week, possibly Sunday night, December 14 th and last into Tuesday, December 16 th . Residents seeking sandbags can purchase them at local stores, and the City is providing free sand at three locations.
UPDATED 11:30 a.m.
Due to the storm, about 6,800 PG&E customers are currently without power in San Luis Obispo County and Northern Santa Barbara County. We appreciate the importance to our customers of getting service restored and PG&E crews are working around the clock to restore power safely and as quickly as possible.
Here are some customer outage numbers by area:
Lompoc: 1110
Arroyo Grande 590
Avila Beach 910
Morro Bay 52
Pismo Beach 1000
Cambria 80
San Luis Obispo: 1100 Paso Robles: 42 Templeton: 85 Santa Maria: 730 Grover Beach: 120 Nipomo: 86 Santa Ynez: 100 Solvang: 110
UPDATED 11:15 a.m.
Highway 1 is closed from Ragged Point in north coastal San Luis Obispo County (mile marker 72 to the Coast Gallery in Monterey County (mile marker 42) due to multiple rock/mud slides. Crews are on site assessing damage and initiating cleanup. Alternate routes into Big Sur and Ragged Point are Highways 68, 101 and 46.
There is no estimated time of opening.
UPDATED 9:30 a.m.
A powerful storm pushed through San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties overnight Thursday, leaving behind damage ranging from mudslides to flooding to downed trees and power outages.
Power crews from PG&E and Southern California Edison were kept busy all night with outages across the entire viewing area.
In Ventura County, Ten homes were declared uninhabitable after being virtually buried by mudslides. The homes sit on the edge of a hill that was badly burned in the “Springs” brush fire earlier in the year. Heavy overnight rains forced mud into those the homes. Another three had siginificant damage and twelve homes were less seriously damaged by the mud.
The strong storm brought periods of heavy rain, which in turn caused flooding in several areas. Isla Vista saw brief periods of high water which impeded traffic. High waters also affected the intersection of Black Road and Mahoney Road in Santa Maria, with water rushing over the pavement.
High winds toppled trees in several parts of the area. Viewers posted pictures of trees downed in locations ranging from Atascadero to a supermarket in Buellton. Palm fronds and other debris littered streets in several communities, brought down by the high winds.
The Santa Barbara County Fire Department (SBCFD) responded to 78 storm related calls for service throughout Santa Barbara County beginning at 6pmlast nightuntil approximately 3amtoday. These calls included 33 calls for power lines down, 5 trees down, 15 flooding calls, 15 fire alarms, 4 structural problems, 2 fires, 2 flying debris related calls, and 1 road issue. There were no rescues related to the storm.
By 7:00 Friday morning, rainfall reached 4.89 inches in the San Marcos Pass, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts as high as 64 miles an hour were recorded at the Santa Ynez weather station.
A small boat washed onshore near Milpas Street in Santa Barbara.
The American Red Cross, Ventura Chapter, opened a shelter at 1200 Leisure Village Drive in Camarillo for residents affected by the storm. Red Cross volunteers will be on scene providing lodging, food, water and comfort for as long as needed.
A dust storm along Highway 166 near Cuyama made it difficult for Santa Barbara County Fire crews to check out a fire alarm incident in the 4700 block of Cebrian Avenue. Crews there reported winds of up to 60 mph and debris across the roadway. The California Highway Patrol closed that stretch of Highway 166 for a time.
Santa Barbara County Fire has already responded to several dozen calls for trees and wires down so far Thursday evening.
Known Downed Power Lines and Locations Since 8 p.m. Thursday:
3527 Via Lato – Lompoc
Calle Quarta/Via Barba – Lompoc
2401 Latigo Drive – Solvang
3612 Via Gala – Lompoc
463 Dania Avenue – Buellton
1700 Laurel Avenue – Solvang
Calle Marana/Calle Lindero – Lompoc
El Portal Street/E. Clark Avenue – Santa Maria
Floradale Avenue/W. Central Avenue – Lompoc
3060 Country Road – Santa Ynez
320 Glennora Way – Buellton
391 St. Andrews Way – Lompoc
6500 block of Santa Rosa Road – Lompoc
3985 Roblar Avenue – Santa Ynez
De la Guerra Street/Garden Street – Santa Barbara
Downed Trees reported by Emergency Traffic Radio:
A tree fell in the middle of the road along Harris Grade in the Lompoc area.
7-Eleven on the 7300 block of Calle Real reported a tree that fell down on the road, possibly onto power lines, down the block.
A tree was reported to have caused heavy structural damage to the Albertsons on 222 East Highway 246 in Buellton.
Witnesses report a tree that fell on a house on the 1200 block of Via Pavion in Santa Maria. The tree is said to be lying across power lines.
A tree reported down across power lines on 1214 Coast Village Road in Santa Barbara.
Witnesses reporting a downed tree partially blocking the roadway at 1000 State Street across Anapamu Street.
1711 De La Vina Street across Valerio Street. Large Palm tree connecting with lines – Santa Barbara
1328 San Rafael Avenue. Tree on car and power lines – Santa Barbara
There is a flash flood warning in effect for southeastern San Luis Obispo County and northwest Santa Barbara County until 2:15 a.m. Friday. Locations in the warning include: Santa Maria, Vandenberg Village, Lompoc, Mission Hills, Los Alamos, and Orcutt.
Our newsroom is receiving multiple reports of roadways flooded and people trapped in cars.
Emergency Crews and Law Enforcement reporting the following floods:
El Colegio at Embarcadero del Norte and nearby area in Isla Vista. Roadway flooding with a vehicle partially submerged. Likely that El Colegio will be shut down.
Area around the Santa Barbara Airport
Highway 101 southbound just north of Glenn Annie/Storke.
Walmart Neighborhood Market located at 500 Blosser Road. Cars partially submerged – Santa Maria
State Route 1 at Division Street – Guadalupe
61 Tamarack Way – Templeton
El Pomar Drive/Kim Court – Templeton
Orcutt Road/Hobbs Lane – Santa Maria
200 W. Pedregosa Street, Heavy flooding – Santa Barbara
Carrillo Street, westbound lanes flooded – Santa Barbara
Castillo Street underpass flooded – Santa Barbara
Stay with KEYT.com and KCOY.com for the latest updates and information.
Slideshow: Powerful Storm Hits Central Coast 27892526