Based on information that we have gathered by walking the neighborhood, talking to neighbors, and receiving messages from neighbors, the following is a collection of what we know about the storm that came through The Hills between 5 AM and 6 AM Saturday, December 14. If you have any additions, please write to Association President Amy Sanford at asanford619@gmail.com. Special thanks go to Association Vice President John Keller, who surveyed the community and provided much of the information we have.

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The National Weather Service bay area office has requested that we share this report and accompanying photos to help them with weather warning predictions.

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THROUGHOUT THE HILLS
We don't have verification of the top wind speeds, but they were likely similar to the 83-mile-per-hour gusts reported at SFO. With power lines down on Hillside, Los Robles, La Mesa, and Canyon, homes were without power for up to 55 hours. By late Saturday, power was restored to the area 1-2 blocks east of Skyline and the area west of Skyline. (Some of this area may not have lost power.)  

 

By late Sunday, PG&E reconnected most of their lines. About 40-50 homes on Los Robles and Tiptoe and some homes on adjoining roads remained without power until about 12:30 PM on Monday.  After that, four homes along Hillside remained without power due to electrical issues in the homes.

 

On Monday - Wednesday, PG&E checked for remaining undetected faults and made final repairs. Chainsaws could be heard throughout The Hills for a full week. Fortunately, unlike the three-day outage we had in March, 2023, cellphone and landline service never went down.

 

HILLSIDE DRIVE

Near Los Robles, a redwood tree broke in two and damaged the roof and toppled a chimney of a two-story house. ​​Between Adeline and Val de Flores, an enormous redwood and another adjacent tree fell across the road, took out power lines, and landed on a car.  Hillside was closed to traffic for two days while work crews worked to remove the trees from the roadway. It took about two additional days to finish replacing the utility poles and power lines.

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LOS ROBLES DRIVE

​Near Val de Flores, two enormous redwoods toppled onto power lines and the road, snapping multiple utility poles, and ripped the branches off one side of a third enormous redwood.  It took about three days to finish replacing the utility poles and power lines, during which time the road was usually closed to traffic.

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CANYON ROAD

Near Tiara Court, a eucalyptus snapped in the middle, took out power lines, and landed on a shed. The road was closed most of the day on Sunday to replace the PGE pole and wiring that were lost due to the eucalyptus that fell.  Near Fey Drive, a large oak limb landed on a driveway. On Tiara Court, off Canyon, a large pine bough fell on a house, damaging the roof. ​​

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LA MESA DRIVE

Between Hillside and Val de Flores, a very tall pine broke in half taking out power lines, snapping utility poles, and smashing through a roof (and extending 12-18 inches into someone's living room). The road was blocked for two days while crews removed fallen trees and replaced two utility poles and power lines. ​Very nearby, a very tall pine snapped at the base and fell in a front yard, landing very close to the house.

 

VAL DE FLORES DRIVE

A large Monterey Pine that fell over uprooted at Alturas Drive. The tree landed on the driveway and missed the house by about 5 feet.

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ALTURAS DRIVE

Between Hillside and Val de Flores, a tree landed on a power line, causing a power surge that burned out a home's electrical main. ​Near Val de Flores, a tree landed on a car, causing damage to the hood and front windshield.

 

SUMMIT DRIVE​

Just up from El Prado Road, a large oak toppled in a yard and big limbs from a eucalyptus fell into the road 

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SKYLINE DRIVE

Near Hillside, several large eucalyptus boughs fell into the roadway and were eventually dragged off to the shoulder. 

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