In attempt to help educate their towns and Humboldt County about PG&E’s Public Safety Power Shutoff Program, Eureka Mayor Susan Seaman and Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes have created this handy video, giving tips on how to prepare for when the power goes out.

Because of the devastating wildfires that have occurred throughout California in recent years, PG&E may shut off power during extreme weather or wildfire conditions in order to improve safety. The outages could potentially last for up to 48 hours.

Garnes and Seaman outline some ways community members can prepare for these outages, including updating your contact information with PG&E, planning for any medical needs, stocking up your emergency preparedness kit and discussing an emergency meeting location with family.

The California Public Utilities Commission fire map shows that both Eureka and Rio Dell are not in high fire-risk areas. However, PG&E spokesperson Deanna Contreras told the Outpost that does not necessarily mean the towns won’t experience outages.

This year PG&E has expanded the shutoff program to include transmission electrical lines —which carry power across regions — Contreras said. This means that even if you are in a low risk area, you could lose power if the line feeding your area passes through high risk regions.

Contreras also said that, although recent rain will help lower wildfire threats in some areas, it is important to remember that wildfire season is not over in California.

“Last year we had the Camp Fire in November,” Contreras said. “So we’re seeing fire later and later in the year. Preparedness is key.”

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Press release from the City of Rio Dell:

Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes and Eureka Mayor Susan Seaman have produced a video advisory on Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Public Safety Power Shutoff program. The video follows an August 20th Rio Dell City Council meeting where representatives from Pacific Gas and Electric provided a presentation on the new program and its potentially wide reaching impacts.

“I have been worried for some time that word (on this issue) is not getting out to the public and I hope this video helps.” Stated Rio Dell Mayor Debra Garnes on the topic of PG&E’s new wildfire mitigation program called Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). The program could shut off electrical services to entire cities or regions during specific weather conditions in order to prevent wildfires that could result from downed power lines. “Too many of the people I run into have no knowledge about PSPS and I’m concerned that those same people have no real idea about consequences of what PG&E is doing and how to prepare.”

Depending upon weather conditions, PSPS events could result in power outages lasting multiple days.

“The average electricity consumer understands a 12‐24 hour power outage happens every now and then. But the potential timeline here is much longer and the scope is potentially regional. This is a big deal.” Garnes concluded by stating that the recent rains don’t diminish the importance of the message in the video. “Weather events outside of Humboldt County (in areas where it has not rained) can impact us. It’s best to be prepared.”

Those interested in learning more are encouraged to call 1‐866‐743‐6589 or to visit pge.com/mywildfirealerts