Crews working to keep Fresno roads clear during storm

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Heavy downpour is making it difficult for drivers to get around Fresno safely on Friday.

From flooding on streets to trees falling on vehicles, road crews clearing the damage left behind by the storm.

The California Highway Patrol was swamped throughout the day as officers responded to collisions.

"We've had several dozen accidents," said Mike Salas, a CHP spokesperson.

Salas expects the increase in crashes to continue as we head into the weekend.

"You're gonna see a lot of black and white patrol cars up and down the local roadways," said Salas.

The driver of a sedan vehicle did not want to be on camera, but she shared that the CHP was able to escort her off the highway after she spun out, hitting the guardrail on Highway 180.

Meanwhile Fresno Public Works Director Scott Mozier said crews are out on the streets making sure roadways are safe for drivers.

He said the first call of a road hazard came in around 5:30 on Friday morning.

"Crews have been out responding both to clogged drains, potholes, we've had four crews on street detail and then we've had our two tree crews responding," said Mozier.

Crews were responding to incidents where a tree crushed a car on East Illinois Avenue near North 3rd Street. Mozier said, thankfully, no one was hurt. He encourages people to continue reporting road hazards by using the FresGO app or by calling 3-1-1.

PG&E Spokesperson Denny Boyle said they are doing their best to restore power to customers in the dark.

"We're definitely in response mode now. We're responding to outages as they occur, we have crews out doing an assessment on damage that already happened to see if we can find the cause," said Boyle.

He said it's best to always keep your contact information up to date so PG&E can keep you informed on happenings in your area.

The CHP said if you plan to be on the road during this storm, plan ahead and give yourself some extra drive time. He says it's all to keep everyone safe while we deal with this storm.