The Santa Ana winds that led San Diego Gas & Electric to shut off power to more than 5,900 customers on Tuesday are now reaching their peak and come amid dangerously low relative humidity across critically dry San Diego County, the National Weather Service says.
To Victoria Hilton, 76, who lives in the Heavenly Oaks Mobile Home Park in the mountain community of Guatay in East San Diego County, the power shutoffs felt like an eternity.
She lost power for two days. She used battery-powered lamps to read at night and bathed in tepid water because her water heater couldn’t operate.
San Diego Gas & Electric officials have notified 24,700 customers living in backcountry areas that they may lose power in the coming days because Santa Ana winds are expected to blow through the area, which may result in elevated risk of fire.
Moderate-strength Santa Ana winds are expected to arrive Tuesday night and last until Thursday evening, leading the National Weather Service to issue red flag warnings for San Diego County valleys and mountains through Friday morning. The red flag warning is also in effect for inland and coastal Orange County.
