Storm Blows Trouble to City

An early storm brought high winds and rainfall to the Bay Area Tuesday, which wreaked havoc on the morning commute and left thousands without power.

At around 5 a.m., an 18-wheel tractor-trailer jackknifed on Interstate Highway 80 westbound near Gilman Street in Berkeley, stopping traffic in both directions for nearly five hours, said California Highway Patrol Officer Annie Greenfield.

Winds clocked as high as 48 miles per hour and slick roadways may have contributed to the crash of the empty tractor-trailer, Greenfield said.

The 54-year-old driver from Sacramento escaped the cab of the truck after losing control, striking a guard rail and jackknifing the rig, said Acting Fire Chief David Orth.

The crash ignited one of the truck's 50-gallon diesel tanks, Orth said.

No other injuries or accidents were reported.

Both directions of I-80 were closed until 9 a.m. backing up traffic to Vallejo, Greenfield said. Traffic continued to be heavy all morning.

The accident was cleared off the road by 9:30 a.m. and is under investigation by the CHP, Greenfield said.

"The very first rain is very slick," Greenfield said. The season's first hard rain leaves a slurry of built up debris, rubber and oil making roads dangerous, she said.

Orth warned of weather related problems Monday evening, but said he was surprised by the storm's intensity.

Wind speeds of 48 mph were clocked at the Lawrence Hall of Science, and 1.43 inches of rain had fallen by 1 p.m., said Diana Henderson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service.

"This is extremely early for a storm of this magnitude," Henderson said.

Berkeley Fire Station 5 Captain Gil Dong said he was usually more worried about wildfires this time of year-not flooding and downed trees.

Dong and his crew cordoned off high voltage power lines trapped under a 25-foot long maple tree limb at 1619 Dwight Ave., he said.

Crews from the city and PG&E arrived at the site about 10:30 a.m. to clear the branch and restore power.

Antonio Hallinan, who lives near the site, reported hearing the branch fall around 8 a.m.

Branches have fallen from the tree during heavy storms for the past three years, Hallinan said.

"We've had tree limbs down across our area," said Paul Moreno, a spokesperson for PG&E.

Across the Bay Area 130,000 customers had power interrupted by the high winds and rainfall, Moreno said.

By 3 p.m. 123,010 had power restored and the rest were expected to be back online by Tuesday evening, he said.

The outages affected 190 customers in Berkeley, but by 3 p.m. crews had restored power to most, Moreno said.

The National Weather Service issued flood and wind warnings for Tuesday but allowed them to expire as the system moved on, Henderson said, adding that a less intense system is expected in the area this weekend.

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