Though electricity to Smith River residents was restored at about 10 a.m. Wednesday, waking up may have people thinking about the ongoing power outages in other parts of California.

A tree through a power line near U.S. 101 and Rossini Road in the Smith River area plunged about 9,930 customers into darkness at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. The blackout affected customers in parts of Crescent City, Fort Dick and Smith River, Pacific Power spokesman Tom Gaunt told the Wild Rivers Outpost on Wednesday morning.

Utility crews had re-routed power to other lines and had electricity restored for all but 1,063 customers at about 12:35 a.m. Wednesday, Gaunt said.

At about noon on Wednesday, another Pacific Power spokesman, Drew Hanson told the Wild Rivers Outpost what most residents probably know — that Del Norte’s power outage wasn’t related to Pacific Gas & Electric’s ongoing Public Safety Power Shutoffs.

Though a red flag warning has been issued for Del Norte County, according to Hanson, the likelihood of Pacific Power issuing a Public Safety Power Shutoff in that area is low.

In an ideal situation, he said, the utility would notify customers 48 hours in advance if a Public Safety Power Shutoff were possible via email, text and phone calls.

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