Berkeley and Oakland Hills PG&E Power Shutoff Could Start Thursday Morning: 2,053 Berkeley and 2,570 Oakland Customers, UC Berkeley Campus in Zone

Thousands of homes and businesses in the Berkeley and Oakland hills could lose power early Thursday, Oct. 15, as PG&E prepares for a dry Diablo wind event. According to PG&E's outage map, as reported by The Berkeley Scanner, a Public Safety Power Shutoff in Berkeley would begin Thursday between 5:15 and 6 a.m. PG&E's watch covers 2,053 customers in Berkeley and 2,570 in Oakland, part of 4,705 customers in Alameda County.

Late Tuesday, at 11:55 p.m., PG&E said updated forecasts had raised the statewide scope to about 88,000 customers across 29 counties, up from about 70,000 earlier that afternoon. The utility has not yet published new city-by-city counts, so Bay Area numbers may still change.

Which neighborhoods are in the zone

Berkeleyside reported that the possible outages would mostly hit the Berkeley Hills along and on both sides of Grizzly Peak Boulevard, with a large cluster in neighborhoods next to Tilden Regional Park. UC Berkeley's main campus is also inside the shutoff area. The Scanner said the zone reaches down into parts of downtown Berkeley. In Oakland, the watch is centered on the hills. ABC7 said residents of both the Berkeley and Oakland hills had received PG&E warnings.

The Scanner counted more than 80 Medical Baseline customers in Berkeley and 127 in Oakland. These are people who depend on electricity for medical devices or independent living.

How long it could last

PG&E expects the wind event to run from Wednesday evening through Saturday evening, Oct. 17, with offshore winds peaking Thursday across parts of the North and East Bay. The Scanner said the outage map showed estimated restoration in Berkeley by 2 p.m. Saturday. Berkeleyside's report put it at 2 p.m. Friday. Restoration times change with the forecast, and crews must patrol lines before power comes back, so check your own address rather than relying on one estimate.

"We see lots of wind in the forecast as well as low humidity. We're also seeing dry debris on the ground," PG&E spokesperson Tamar Sarkissian told ABC7. Henry DeNero, who runs the Berkeley FireSafe Council, told the station that memories of the 1991 Oakland Hills firestorm are still on many residents' minds. Berkeleyside noted that warm, dry offshore winds like these were behind the 1923 Berkeley fire and the 1991 Tunnel Fire. As of Tuesday, no red flag warning had been issued, CBS News Bay Area reported, but fire officials were watching the weather and how dry the vegetation was.

How to check your address and get ready

Enter your address at pge.com/pspsupdates. PG&E started sending texts, emails and automated calls Monday, Oct. 12. For help preparing, call 211, text PSPS to 211, or visit 211.org. PG&E's advice is to charge phones, laptops, battery packs and medical devices, and to freeze extra water now. An unopened refrigerator usually keeps food cold for about four hours, and a full freezer can stay frozen for up to two days. If a shutoff happens, PG&E says Community Resource Centers with charging, water and snacks will be listed on the same page.

For county-by-county numbers across the region, see our Bay Area PSPS update, and for the heat behind the winds, our story on inland highs in the 90s through Saturday.