Power Could Be Out For Days

More than 1,600 Tuolumne County residents could be without electricity for up to 4 days after gale-force winds snapped 14 power poles in the remote area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

Mark Hendrickson with Pacific Gas and Electric says the power poles are all in a row and in an extremely inaccessible area west of the mountain community of Cold Springs.

Communities affected include Strawberry, Pinecrest, Leland Meadows and Dodge Ridge and 1,645 PG&E customers.

Storms will hamper PG&E repair crews from getting into the ridge top. Hendrickson says the work is going require helicopters to help restore the lines. Depending on weather conditions, it could be three or four days before power is back on to those areas.

This might put a damper on the planned Wednesday opening of the Dodge Ridge Ski area, which just received more than 30-inches of snow in the past two days.

Hendrickson says PG&E will be working closely with the ski area during this to give them up to date information on restoration of power to them.