Trees fall onto power lines in San Anselmo, but town handles heavy rain

Residents and small business owners feel fortunate there weren’t massive problems as an atmospheric river rolled through the town of San Anselmo.
But now that the ground is pretty saturated, they understand there could be issues down the road if this storm is any indicator of what’s to come this winter.  
As crews worked carefully to cut tree limbs near high-voltage power lines, San Anselmo resident Michael Schwab described what he saw in the early morning hours from his house.
“All of a sudden we’re seeing sparking dripping down from the tops of our trees,” said Schwab. 
PG&E says three oak trees came down, with the first one taking down the other two nearby, all pushing into power lines. 
“The limbs of the trees were actually burning, but it’s because a huge oak fell into the high voltage lines,” said Schwab.  
Crews cut power to work on lines. 
William Hendrickson powered up generators he bought in 2019 when public safety power shutoffs cut off electricity to his house for four days. 
He was sound asleep, but his girlfriend woke up to see what was happening just outside their home on Tamalpais Avenue. 
“She said she saw a big flash and heard a big boom so she assumed it was maybe a transformer or something like that,” said Hendrickson. 
Ross Valley Fire is reminding residents to clear leaves if they can from storm drains to minimize localized flooding. 
They say there weren’t any major incidents over the last 24 hours, as the San Anselmo Creek was able to handle the heavy amount of rain and give residents a chance to enjoy a break from days of downpours.   
“The creek is flowing so it’s a fun time to see all the leaves and limbs flowing and everything like that so now we’re just enjoying the sunshine,” said San Anselmo resident Michael Hamilton. 
“I noticed that my swimming pool was filled to capacity, and the pump was groaning because it was just overworked. There was just simply no let up of it,” said San Anselmo resident Kim Pipkin. 
As crews contracted by PG&E continue to clear dangerous limbs near power lines, nearby residents will be without power into the night, but many say they’re thankful. 
“It wasn’t landing on anybody’s house or on anybody’s car so I feel pretty lucky actually,” said Schwab. 
Many are feeling lucky, as a gigantic, remarkable rainbow arched over town, but many know this is just the first major storm of the season.