Power outage disrupts morning classes, administration works with DWP

Power went out on campus around 6:24 a.m. this morning Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.

According to Maria Moe, spokesperson for the Department of Water and Power, it is a single phase condition and it could have been a blown jumper.

“We’ve received information before 8 a.m.” Moe said. “There are currently crews on Brahma Drive.”

According to Deputy Barreras, this power outage is not related to the recent power outage that occurred on Wednesday Nov. 9, 2016.

Department chair of the library Paula Paggi said her staff informed her about the outage before she received a message from the college.

“Thankfully we have cell phones. My staff contacted me before we opened and said everything just went down,” Paggi said. “My staff is here at 7 a.m. to prepare. I connected with my dean who connected with the vice president, and will let us know if we should shut down the campus or should [maintain] it open. I let my staff know immediately what to do.”

According to Paggi, when the power went out this morning the emergency lights went on. Paggi is hoping the power will be restored for afternoon events she has scheduled.

“We’re keeping people informed. I’m staying informed with my dean and my vice president,” Paggi said. “DWP is working on it. Hopefully it will be up soon, that was about 8:45 a.m.”

When Paggi arrived to campus, she saw about 10 DWP trucks parked on Brahma Drive and Winnetka Ave, near the agricultural area on campus, and is hoping they are working to fix the issue.

According to the Falafelicious owner Ofir Bass, when the power went out this morning, they called in the food truck to campus because they can’t operate the food court kitchen without power.

“We can’t make food so we called in our food truck. It’s affecting us big time,” Bass said. “They’re keeping us updated. They’re coming every 20 minutes and letting us know.”

Pierce College student Lislie Abac arrived to campus, but she was not informed about the power outage before she arrived on campus.

“Someone told me near the library.” Abac said. “I didn’t know until I came in today.”

The power went back on around 10:13 a.m. Check with your instructor for additional information.

** Quotes gathered by Salvador Fariaz.**