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The January 5th 2008 Storm resulted in an extended power outage. To see how the community reacted and the storm developed, see the history of Power Outage.

A power outage started on 2008-01-04 and ended 2008-01-06, affecting many parts of Davis. Please list businesses that are open, intersections that are down, and areas that have no power. It may not be a good idea to list specific addresses of residency without power, for safety reasons, but neighborhoods and regions would be helpful. Across Northern California, over 1.4 million homes and businesses lost power.

Yolo County has an official situation website for updates. There is also a levee and waterway map that tracks potential and current flooding. The City of Davis has a web page with information, and a hotline open at (530) 747-5400 (or weekdays: 757-5686). To report a downed powerline or other dangerous situation, call (530) 666-8920.

When you get your power back:

Check your refrigerators and freezers. If your power has been out for an extended amount of time, it's very likely that your food has spoiled, or will spoil. For safety's sake, it is highly advised to chuck out most of your food. If you remembered not to open up your freezer at all, and if you had a lot of frozen items, that food may be OK (ours was still frozen solid after 30 hrs). If you were out of town or away from your home during this power outage, keep in mind that your power may have been off for some time and it is possible that food in your refrigerator/freezer defrosted and spoiled, but has since re-frozen with the restoration of power. Such food may not be safe to eat. It is advisable to ask a neighbor how long (if at all) the power was out at your specific location. If in doubt, be safe: throw it out.

The following is information about food safety after power outages from the American Red Cross. A summarized version appears at the end of the following Davis Enterprise news article about the after effects of the storm.

You can also contact PG & E to get up to $25 reimbursement if your power was out for longer then 48 hours.

Alerts

There is a boil water order from the Yolo County Health Department in effect for non-municipal water (i.e., wells and small water systems)

Davis water is safe according to City of Davis Emergency Information page

Intersections Affected

  • Fifth Street: all intersections east of B st. are currently down still at 12:24 am
  • Restored - Russell and Anderson was down during the day but power has been restored
  • Restored - Intersections on Anderson between Russell and Covell were closed at 11:00 am due to fallen power line

Community Needs/Resources

Businesses Open

Power is out

  • Many parts of East Davis, South Davis, East Downtown (between J and L)
  • Restored - Main Post Office at Pole Line and 5th
  • Restored - The Marketplace, except for Safeway (no produce or baked goods), Panda Express, and Longs Drugs.

Media Coverage

The Vanguard has written an editorial criticizing the response of PG&E and the city of Davis to the power outages. However, the blog praised the Davis Wiki and the Enterprise: "The two best sources for information were on the Davis Wiki and the Davis Enterprise Websites. (Again you had to be mobile enough to get to a place with power for that to be helpful). Even then there was not a lot of information. That is by no means a criticism of either the Wiki or the Enterprise. They did the best they could. The information was just not available and that falls squarely on the city of Davis and PG&E."

Also see coverage from the Enterprise

Photos

E Street Plaza Physical Sciences Library closeup Arboretum path blocked Damage to vehicles and houses evident even the crossing guards were not immune Both bicyclists and signs were moved about One of the larger trees that went down a fence at Holmes Junior High School

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2008-01-05 07:02:17   Power back on as of 5am 1/5/2008 to areas north of 5th street [only verified East Davis] —JaimeRaba

2008-01-05 07:55:06   Power is still out in West Davis as of 7:30 a.m. —LizSweet

2008-01-05 08:57:35   A few of us in old north davis just got power back after 23 hours without service. —jefftolentino

2008-01-05 09:17:29   just got power back at 8:55 am at around k and 3rd —MattHh

2008-01-05 10:12:02   It appears that DCN and Omsoft have been affected by the storm. I have no DSL connection as of the time of this post and haven't since before noon yesterday—although service seems to have been up for an hour or less earlier this morning. Their Websites are also unavailable.

If they are in fact down, it would have been nice if a representative of either organization had posted something on the Wiki. —DavidRobinson

  • I don't know if that should be among their highest priorities or not. I have been checking their tech support number (750-0101) and it has the Friday AM message still on the recorder. —DougWalter
  • Doug, I'm not sure that it should have been "among their highest priorities," but if there is an outage and if it has lasted over 24 hours, as it seems to have, perhaps notifying the outside world through the Wiki might have been one of their second, third, or fourth level priorities. It's just a thought. (And for the record, I do think that restoring service should be the top priority, in case anyone has the idea that I thought that they should have spent the day letting us know something was wrong and not solving the problem or problems that seem to have caused the outage.)—DavidRobinson
  • And both Omsoft and DCN Web sites came back moments ago at 3:00PM.—DavidRobinson

2008-01-05 10:18:33   Anybody knows if power is on in southeast Davis? (Mace and Cowell Blvd area) —charityh

2008-01-05 10:19:18   Still no power in North Davis Meadows at 10:15am. —davey123

2008-01-05 10:25:24   Does anybody know if power is back on Anderson and Hannover? I know its on at the Save Mart plaza, but my apartment didn't have any power this morning when I left. —Scarlettjohnson

2008-01-05 11:33:20   As of 11:31 the pwr is still out on Santa Rosa St. Is there a site that show the areas still affective? —Sirius

2008-01-05 11:44:36   Power is still out on Santa Rosa St. near Arroyo Park in West Davis at 11:42 am, Satturey. Also, PGE info line says NEXT info update will be at 8:40 pm Friday (yesterday!). And PGE number to call after your power has been out 24 hours now does not want to talk to you until your power has been out for 48 hours. Time to go get ice and recharge my laptop! —JosephSenecal

2008-01-05 12:10:26   Just wondering if anyone in the stonegate area has power as of yet. The country club is lit, but it looks like everything on the east side of lake and into village homes is dark. Hope everyone is staying dry and safe. —ebone

  • We haven't lost power, but we're on the west side of Lake in the Marina Circle area. —JimEvans

2008-01-05 12:24:01   Also, just wondering if “trees falling on the powerlines” as the automated pg&e recording claims is equivalent to non-maintained infrastructure like old power poles falling down? as was clearly visible on Russell west of Pedrick and on Covell west of Lake. If not, maybe pg&e should invest some of the gobs of cash they charge into proper maintenance and storm preparation. Just a thought. —ebone

2008-01-05 12:34:22   Does anyone know if there is power at Drew Circle or in that area? (Near Drew Ave & Cowell)—JimmyLPhilo

2008-01-05 12:42:54   Power is out at all of university mall including starbucks, subway, ono hawaian bbq, old teahouse, etc. Restaurants at Anderson Plaza are open, though papa Murphy is quite useless to blackout victims. —lesterlowe

2008-01-05 12:55:20   Seriously — does anyone know if Drew & Cowell has power? —JimmyLPhilo

2008-01-05 13:23:21   West Davis south of Covell and near Sycamore still out. PG&E information is useless. The Enterprise story that is on their site now is best information to be found. Power on in area of Research Park and Cowell. —MaryAnn

2008-01-05 13:48:27   I am so tired of hearing the same message from PG&E that an update on our power situation should be available last night. We're still in the dark in our area of West Davis. —LizSweet

2008-01-05 14:36:38   Does anyone know if power is on at Pacifico, Sharps & Flats etc.? —JimmyLPhilo

2008-01-05 15:09:14   Just out of curiousity, would anybody know if the sudden drop in verizon's signal is related to the power outage? We went from full signal to none. —BradBenedict

2008-01-05 17:05:40   The area around J & L and 2nd to Covell is still down and the PGE person said it would be another 8 to 10 hrs before they even had a rough estimate. A tree came down in someone's back yard on a major trunk line. We haven't been able to find any place to stay, hotles are booked. Why haven't they installed underground wiring long before this with the rates they charge? —Renngrrl

2008-01-05 17:35:34   Yeehaw, power is back on at Stonegate Village Apts in West Davis. —AndrewPotter

2008-01-05 17:39:18   Power finally back on for us in West Davis too. So glad!!! —LizSweet

2008-01-05 19:38:16   Anybody knows if B&12th Street has power? —goodluck2008

2008-01-05 19:58:37   As of 7:55pm power is still out on Sycamore Lane N. of Covell —DavidHolcomb

2008-01-05 20:46:42   Power is still out West of Sycamore on Acacia & Plum Lanes. :/ (Check time stamp) —AndrewBianchi

2008-01-05 20:52:02   Does anybody know if Pacifico, Sharps & Flats etc has power? It's important! —JimmyLPhilo

2008-01-05 21:00:52   Senda Nueva, Dos Pinos Coop Housing, power still out except for few units as of 9:00pm 1/5/07 —dmklippert

2008-01-05 21:01:19   Does anyone know if the power is back on near Emerson Junior High, on Calaveras Avenue in West Devis? Thanks! —escholey

2008-01-05 21:29:23   Does anyone know if power is back along Road 29 ? Was out at 6pm tonight. —davey123

2008-01-05 21:42:55   Emerson Junior High area - power was back around 8pm Saturday —libero

2008-01-05 22:04:14   Longs was open at 2008-1-5 18:30. Safeway on W. Covell looked mighty dark, has anyone checked if it's open? Panda Express had people inside, eating. —PeterGee

  • It is open, but no produce. See the "Power is out" section on this page.

2008-01-05 22:53:39   Safeway has power, probably thanks to a generator, but they're not selling any frozen foods or taking credit cards. That whole area on Covell is dark and the light on Covell and Sycamore is still off. —LizethCazares

2008-01-05 23:22:45   Does anyone know if the Save-Mart ever lost power? Sounds like the Co-op and Safeway did. I'm looking to buy some non-suspect milk, my own milk being quite suspect at this point. —CovertProfessor

  • Save-Mart (as well as the other businesses in that particular shopping center) was not affected by the power outage and has been open as usual. Please refer to the "Businesses Open" section earlier on this page.
    • That told me what is currently open, not necessarily what was never closed. But thank you — you answered my question. —CovertProfessor
  • Apparently, SaveMart never lost power. I went to Longs on Friday morning, and Longs never lost power because, according to the store manager, they are on the same power grid as the Hospital (on the other side of 113, go figure). Panda Express didn't lose power either. Don't know wny SaveMart never lost it. I'm sure (or I hope) Safeway will/did throw out all their perishables.

2008-01-05 23:31:35   The power came back on Santa Rosa between 5:30 and 6:00 pm on Saturday. Ain't light and heat wunnerful? —BarbaraKing

2008-01-05 23:40:21   Why is Panda's power out. I saw their lights on during the first night of the outage. It was noteable because it was the only place in the marketplace. —MattHh

2008-01-06 00:10:29   Does anyone have radio stations that are covering the outage in Davis? I have heard the info on channel 16 Comcast, but I can't seem to find the radio station. —PeterGee

2008-01-06 00:24:46   Power is back on at Almondwood Apts (by the Marketplace) —PaulHarms

2008-01-06 00:26:53   Power is back on Sycamore area north of Covell, after only 39 hours without power! —BenjaminRosenstein

2008-01-06 00:39:58   Power restored to the west side of anderson above villanova but not the east side of the street, as of 12:19 am. i can no longer see my breath in my living room. —ashlysayhi

  • Do you have DSL or cable? Our DSL does not appear to be working still and I don't know if it's a telephone issue or a provider issue.

2008-01-06 09:02:01   Are those 7 60ft pole lines back up on County Road 102? Is there road access through that area? —AnnieSirrah

2008-01-06 09:02:32   Power in North Davis (North of Catalina & Covell) came on at around 5:00 pm Saturday. However, Cable is not working. DSL is working, but I use SBC. If people are using Comcast Cable, then their internet connection is down.

—SharlaDaly

2008-01-06 10:17:48   I lived in North davis and power is finally back on as of yesterday at 5pm, comcast, direct tv is working as well.As of yesterday night around 9pm when I was biking and talking to friends drake is still out and parts of sycamore. We were without power for over 34 hrs here. The damage is scattered throughout davis, trees branches everywhere, bus stops blown into the middle of the road. I think PGE is doing their best, lets hope that the m-w storm is not as damaging. Also any suggestions for freezer,refrigerator throwout advice( i know all dairy, milk, salad dressings? what about eggs? —ElizabethBarthel

2008-01-06 10:19:29   At least some parts of Drake Drive have their power on this morning. —JasonAller

2008-01-06 10:32:58   North Davis Meadows (out by the city golf course) is still without power. My folks called the PG&E outage line and were told not to expect power until Monday night; they consider the information suspect however as the customer rep thought Davis was in Sacramento County... —HeatherRumsey

2008-01-06 12:33:22   As far as I know, the Amtrak station doesn't have power, but the trains are still running at a slight delay. —Kafani

2008-01-06 12:38:44   Does anyone know if DJUSD public schools are in session as usual tomorrow? There is nothing on their website and, as with most things in this outage, little information available. —LizSweet

2008-01-06 12:46:21   Power still out at Oxford Parkside Apartments. About 50 hours now. —NicoleBush

2008-01-06 12:51:31   F Street residences got power back around 12:00 AM Sunday. I haven't been out to check the intersection at 14th yet... —LizPhillips

2008-01-06 13:00:59   When this situation has been resolved, I think there should be two separate pages here: one for power outages in general with information on emergency services and whatnot since it is unlikely that this is going to the be only major power outage ever, and a second documenting this particular power outage. I'm not acting right now because I think the general power outages page should be named something along the lines of "Power Outages" and that this current page should be renamed to document the dates that this power outage occurred, and since it's not yet over we can't do that. Any thoughts? —ElleWeber

Agreed — it's always good to keep historical material! —PhilipNeustrom

Yup... that was pretty much my take on it too. The entry history also gives a neat timeline. —JabberWokky

Starting January 5th 2008 Storm to collect historical information and photos. —JasonAller

2008-01-06 18:52:35   Most food even in a fridge is probably okay. My house was 55 degrees, so the found never was in a warm location, the door stayed shut for the most part. I tasted my milk last night and it tasted fine. Food takes awhile to spoil in cool temperatures. So test your food, much of it is probably perfectly safe. —DavidGreenwald

2008-01-06 21:42:35   AT&T phone lines are not in service around the Sycamore/Anderson area, estimated repair is 9pm Monday, 1/7/08. —KellyM

  • AT&T lines are now up as of 11:15am, 1/7/08
  • Mine is still out (same area) as of 9:40pm, 1/7/08, plus their offices are closed so I can't call for updates. Help/advice? —KatherineChiu

2008-01-06 23:26:20   Power back on Anderson & Russell area at 12:20am 1/6/2008. AT+T DSL service restored at 9pm. At least for me and my roomie, the phone line (AT+T) is still out and is projected to be restored 9pm tomorrow. If JimmyLPhilo is still wondering about Drew Circle, power seems to have gone out but been restored, although reportedly the heat in at least one complex is still not working. —KatherineChiu

2008-01-07 12:50:56   Per PG&E, as of noon today, there are 54 customers without power. Largest grouping is a group of 22, next largest is 13 rest are ones and twos. No estimate on restoration other than they are working on it. —StephenSouza

2008-01-07 14:03:39   As of last night, many of the frozen/refrigerated aisles at the Marketplace Safeway were empty. —JonathanLawton

  • yes supermarkets cant risk any type of possible contamination, however David is right; if you never opened your frig/freezer and you didnt have the heater on in your house (meaning it was in the 50s) most of your food probably is still ok. —MattHh
  • Actually, it depends on how long your power was out. A closed freezer won't keep foods cold enough indefinitely. I had cooked stew in my unopened freezer and my power was out for more than 48 hours. My stew leaked which means it mostly or completely thawed. Perserving or eating it would have been a no no. Please see the link above to the info about food safety in outages from American Red Cross, above. Their guidelines stipulate that certain food temps rising above 40 degrees for more than a few hours should be discarded. —AnnieSirrah

2008-01-18 03:44:39   thank god panda express was open :) —fredchen

2008-01-18 03:48:30   loudest night i've ever tried to sleep through —fredchen

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