Storm-related issues impacting Peninsula residents on Christmas Eve
By Amanda Hari
Peninsula residents dealt with a variety of weather-related issues on Christmas Eve, from flooding to outages.
Kristi Reese was visiting family in Half Moon Bay. She says her family lost power around midnight.
“We’re just hanging in there until the power comes back on,” said Reese. “It’s supposed to be 5 o’clock, so fingers crossed.”
Reese and her granddaughter were grateful for the clear weather so they could get outside and enjoy the sunlight.
They went to the convenience store, where there was electricity, to grab some snacks and use the restroom.
“They’re on a well,” Reese explained. “So when their power’s out, they don’t have any water either.”
On the other side of the Peninsula, in Menlo Park, people were dealing with a different weather issue – flooding.
“It really kind of just looked like a swimming pool shaped like a big road,” said Milo Correa. “I never thought I would have seen one, but I did today.”
Correa woke up to find Hamilton Avenue shut down because of the flooding and some damage to his fence, hitting the car parked in the driveway.
“Well, it hit my dad’s car,” said Correa.
Across the street, the entrance to a shopping center was coned off, impacting Dashi Japanese Restaurant.
“Well, it’s a flood, and there’s red cones everywhere, so customers cannot come,” said the owner of Dashi, John Bek. “We’re a small business so every customer counts. This is a really big burden on us right now.”
They only had one party eating in their dining room around lunchtime. Bek says he wishes the city would do more to prevent these issues.
“Maybe street sweeping trucks going back and forth every once in a while,” said Bek, offering a solution. “Especially in weather like this. That might prevent something like this. Dry leaves build up, clogging the drain. That’s what’s causing this.”
Crews were sweeping up the leaves after Wednesday’s flooding.
Back in Half Moon Bay, Reese was planning her evening. Her family was going to watch a movie, but now are considering something they could do without electricity.
“If not, we’ll play Pinochle,” said Reese. “By lantern? Flashlight and lantern.”
