High wind and flash flood warnings have been issued because of a storm that is headed south toward the Monterey Bay area. Forecasters now say the storm is expected to hit Santa Cruz Thursday morning, and continue through Thursday night. The winds are now expected to consistently be between 20-40 mph with gusts of up to 50 mph along the coast. A west ocean swell has been forecasted to create waves of 8-12 feet at Pleasure Point from tomorrow and Saturday. This storm is expected to rival some that occurred back in October of 2009 and January of 2008, when thousands of power poles throughout the state were broken or uprooted, causing hundreds of thousands of PG&E customers to be without power for several days. People are encouraged to keep bottles of clean water, flashlights, batteries, and medicines on-hand. Sand and sandbags are available in a number of locations around the Monterey Bay area, including Valley Churches United Missions in Ben Lomond, and Capitola Beach Village Lot #1.
