UPDATE: Residents in Santa Cruz Mountain Dig Out From Storm Debris
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY (KPIX) -- A massive clean-up effort was underway in the Santa Cruz mountains Monday as crews removed downed trees and restored power to people living in the path of Sunday's powerful storm.
"The rain was coming down pretty good and then the winds kicked," said Lompico resident Will Morse. According to him, the combination of wind and rain toppled several trees onto his home.
"I could hear the cracking and popping of something getting ready to fall. And then boom, the lights went out and the high-power lines arced," he said.
The first powerful rainstorm of the year dumped eight inches or more of rain in parts of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The Boulder Creek Fire Department staffed up for the storm and were kept busy for much of the night.
"We ran the typical storm damage calls. It was windy and rainy, so we had wires down, trees down. Sometimes on vehicles, sometimes on houses, sometimes across the road," said Fire Chief Mark Bingham.
The lingering after effects of the storms left countless people stranded on roads with downed trees or waiting for power to be restored.
"It's terrible because we have no running water now. We have no heat. The oven's not working although it's propane. I guess that's electricity too. So, we're just kind of up there stuck," explained Stephanie Stankevich, who managed to snake past a road closure to grab food and supplies.
But others said they're thankful for the rain and see a silver lining in the storm clouds -- grateful that they did not create the mudslides in the burn scar that many feared.
"As long as we have enough rain, I'll stay home. I will take a power outage. I'll take a tree. We're good," said Julie Grant.