More than 12,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the Bay Area woke up Thursday without electricity for the fifth day following the damaging storm that battered the region on Sunday.
PG&E said the storm was the most damaging single storm in nearly 30 years, causing customer outages that affected more than 1.4 million customers across California.
In the Bay Area, most of the outages lingered in the North Bay. While the heavy rain and wind have calmed for now, the effects of the storm continue to impact residents.
In San Rafael, 81-year-old Mike Van Horn is one of them. As his neighborhood remained without power for days, he decided to seek refuge at his local Starbucks to get by for now.
“I’m charging up everything. Watch, phone, laptop, iPad,” he said.
Uprooted trees and excessive debris are the main causes of the outages, forcing people like Van Horn to find resourceful ways to stay connected.
Meanwhile, PG&E continues to assess the damage.