Monday, 07 January 2008 00:43
Winter Storm Hits The County Hard
Amador County, along with the rest of Northern
California, is still cleaning up the mess left by the powerful
storm that hit the area Friday. The unusually high winds blew shingles of off
of roofs, lifted the metal roof off of a winery on Ridge Road and blew trees and light poles
onto homes and cars.
Downed power lines at Hwy 88 and Lower Ridge Rd
closed Hwy 88 for a short time Friday morning and upcountry, Hwy 88 has been
closed throughout the weekend for avalanche control. Electrical outages were
widespread on Friday due to storm damage and Sunday afternoon, some people in
outlying areas were still without power. The storm toppled or damaged 391 power
poles in PG&E territory and repair is still ongoing with no estimate from
the utility company for when the system will be completely repaired. The
National Weather Service reports that the region received 2 to 3 inches of rain
Thursday through Sunday, and 3 to 5 feet of snow. The bad news for those with
leaky roofs is that more rain is forecast through Wednesday and gusty winds
again on Tuesday.