About 21,000 homes and businesses across Santa Cruz County were left in the dark yesterday as the county was pummeled by the third major winter storm of the season. PG&E crews worked round the clock to restore power and clear downed power lines, but outages are expected to continue over the next few days.
For almost half an hour yesterday afternoon, the county was under a rare tornado watch, and residents were advised to take shelter in their basements. One Felton neighborhood was evacuated temporarily, though the order was lifted shortly before 4pm, and Highways 1 and 17 were closed temporarily because of mudslides and downed trees and power lines. On Highway 35, traffic was reduced to a single lane. Highway Patrol was inundated with calls, but reported that there were no major accidents.
Storm conditions are expected to linger over the region throughout the weekend. Read more at the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
