Pandemic advice: Follow the jocks

Winter storm packs rain, snow, knocks out power

Thanks to another massive winter storm packing rain and snow, this week we blew completely by last year’s record-low total rainfall of just 29.41 inches. The 5.51 inches of precipitation for the week, some of it snow, that fell in the Laytonville area, pushed our rain season total after just 6 months to 34.70 inches, more than 5 inches above the entire 12 month total of last year.

The annual historical rain average for this date in December is 26.25 inches, so we’re 8.5 inches above normal.

What a difference a year makes when it’s wet.

The storm on late Sunday afternoon, Dec. 26, left Round Valley and 1,368 customers without electrical power due to storm-related damage to PG&E transmission and distribution lines. By mid-morning on Monday, 1,714 customers in the Laytonville area also lost electrical power.

PG&E’s Rich Noonan, Senior Public Safety Specialist-Mendocino & Lake Counties, does an outstanding job in keeping local governments, such as the Laytonville County Water District, up-to-date amd informed about electrical outages, by sending out twice daily reports, and always answering emails, texts, and phone calls. In other words, he’s somebody who actually does his job.

Noonan, raised in Laytonville and a firefighter by trade, explained in his Sunday night report that “a Transmission Level outage, that is when the power coming in to the substation is lost. The Transmission feed for Covelo is the Laytonville-Covelo 60KV that comes from Laytonville following Dos Rios Road to Dos Rios and then goes up and over Poonkinney ridge before dropping into the valley to power the substation. A Transmission Troubleman is enroute to assess and make safe or repair if possible. Any large problem will require a crew. That line covers a lot of difficult ground to assess so it may take some time to locate the problem, make repairs and patrol. There is not an estimated time of restoration listed yet, as the extent of the problem is not yet known.”

In the Laytonville area, 1,714 customers were without electricity from mid-morning on Monday until 7:45 p.m. that night.

At 7;45 p.m., Monday night, PG&E crews had restored power to all but 110 Laytonville area customers.

On Wednesday morning, Noonan reported, “The Covelo area is restored with the exception of 20 meters in the outlying areas. Repairs on those areas are ongoing. The weather continues to be a challenge with continued rain and snow. Crews are continuing to assess and repair damage. Some of the remaining outages have ETORS (Estimated Time Of Restoration) and some do not due to continuing access problems, snow, downed trees, etc. Another factor that delays our ability to restore is that we cannot do patrols with aircraft due to the weather conditions. All patrols are being executed from the ground which takes a lot of time.” players’ unions have ratcheted up talks about how to proceed and hopefully keep apace with the ever-changing Pandemic landscape.

Scientists believe Omicron spreads faster than COVID-19 and other variants, and it is also more “efficient” in causing infections in vaccinated people. What’s unclear is whether it’s more or less severe than other variants, such as Delta.

Professional sports leagues haven’t required players to be vaccinated, but a vast majority of players have experienced the Fauci Ouchi. Around 67 percent of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control, while professional leagues such as the NBA, NFL and MLS have rates greater than 90 percent, with the NHL and WNBA at over 99 percent.

Some leagues resorted to financial pressure, i.e. loss of pay, to encourage players to roll up their jerseys and get jabbed.

National Football League teams could face potential forfeits and lost paychecks for outbreaks among unvaccinated players. According to the NFL Commissioner’s Office, as of July 22, when the policy was announced, 75 percent of players were partially vaccinated. As of Oct. 7, a month into the regular season, 93.3 percent of NFL players were vaccinated, the league said.

Unvaccinated players in the NHL and NBA could also face docked pay if they are unable to play due to local COVID-19 regulations.

But pro leagues also often deployed vaccination campaigns early that relied heavily on education and opportunities for players to connect with trusted medical experts.

The pro leagues also have exacting testing protocols in place, and experts say that means it’s possible the high number of infections they’re recording now is a portent of what’s in store for the folk populace.

So take heed all, including anti-maskers/vaxers, if finely tuned athletes are contracting the virus forcing wealthy professional sports owners and vaunted collegiate programs to take extraordinary measures to combat the virus, what lesson is to be learned for us mere mortals?

Jim Shields is the Mendocino County Observer’s editor and publisher, observer@pacific.net, the long-time district manager of the Laytonville County Water District, and is also chairman of the Laytonville Area Municipal Advisory Council. Listen to his radio program “This and That” every Saturday at noon on KPFN 105.1 FM, also streamed live: http://www.kpfn.org.