Hana Spahia ’26 was biking to class Tuesday afternoon when strong winds knocked the seat off of her bike.
“I was biking from Little Field Center to Sloan and it was so windy that first, the seat of my bike flew off and then a child ran after me to give it back,” Spahia said. “A branch hit me in the head from one of the trees but it was not particularly large.”
High winds in the area impacted students across campus Tuesday. According to an AlertSU notification, parts of the Stanford campus also experienced a power outage on Tuesday afternoon due to high winds in the area. As of Wednesday evening, all power has been restored on campus, according to the Stanford Emergency Information website.
The alert warned the community of high winds, attributing the power loss to “a PG&E outage [that is] affecting portions of the Stanford Redwood City campus and a separate outage is affecting the Upper Row neighborhood at the Stanford campus.”
Buildings initially affected by the outage include Cardinal Hall and the row houses including Phi Psi, Kairos and Synergy. The AlertSU stated that students who are impacted by the outage can go to Arrillaga Family Dining Commons or Lagunita Dining for respite.
As of early Wednesday morning, power had been restored to the Stanford Redwood City campus.
When asked what support is offered to students impacted by power outages and how Stanford is preparing for strong winds continuing through the week, University spokesperson Luisa Rapport redirected The Daily to the Stanford Emergency Information website.
The heavy wind has caused several trees to fall across Stanford campus. Areas such as the entrance to the engineering quad and parts of Crothers Way have been blocked off due to fallen branches.
ZZ Zreik ’26 decided not to attend classes on Tuesday due to safety concerns relating to the high winds.
“The strong winds were very scary and loud and they knocked down so many trees,” Zreik said. “I was afraid of getting hit by a tree so I emailed my professors for my class and said that I was worried about going to class under those conditions.”
Rapport did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding how many trees have fallen, which buildings or locations have been impacted by fallen trees, or what locations on campus are closed off.
The Daily reached out to Senior Director of Stanford Energy Operations Ron Gawer to ask about expected power restorations and current impacted buildings. The Daily also inquired about how Stanford is preparing for a potential second power outage tomorrow. Gawer redirected The Daily to University spokesperson Luisa Rapport’s response that included the Stanford Emergency Information website.
Updates can be found at emergency.stanford.edu.