Damage to key PG&E transmission lines in Monterey to blame for massive power outage; some power could return by Friday night.

High winds and tall eucalyptus trees lining Del Monte Boulevard in Monterey, through the area adjacent to the Naval Postgraduate School, are likely suspects in what is causing 36,000 PG&E customers on the Monterey Peninsula and elsewhere in the county as of noon, Friday, March 10, to be without power, spokesperson Mayra Tostado says.

Transmission poles along Del Monte between Sloat Avenue and Casa Verde Way sustained heavy damage.The poles support two important electricity transmission lines that carry power into multiple areas of the county. That section of Del Monte will closed to traffic in both directions for what will likely be most of Friday as crews make repairs.

The good news is that power could be restored by 10pm, Friday night, for many on the Peninsula and beyond. Previously the estimate was late Saturday night.

Describing Monterey County as "hard hit" by the atmospheric river that began barreling through Thursday, Tostado says are 17 four-person crews at work around the county on Friday, with more crews coming from Southern California Edison through a mutual aid agreement. She says there are a total of 64 different service calls active in the county.

"The damage is very extensive there is a lot of vegetation that came down in Monterey County," she says, speaking by phone from the Del Monte site. Downed trees and power lines have been reported throughout the county in areas where winds were especially gusty Thursday night.

According to the National Weather Service, some gusts at Monterey Airport reached up to 60 miles per hour, and up to 65 miles per hour in Pebble Beach.