Before the season: the generator connection installed and tested under load, surge protection live at the panel, the panel itself sound (no warm breakers, no corrosion surprises), and a photograph set of the meter, mast, and panel for the record. Storm week is when every one of those becomes a queue instead of an appointment.
San Leandro's storm is not a hurricane; it is the winter atmospheric river and the wind event that drops hillside limbs on overhead lines, plus fire season shutoffs at the East Bay's wildland edge. Readiness here means a generator inlet installed before the outage, surge protection for the restoration spike when power returns, and a household list of circuits that matter overnight. The order of checks when the lights return is the same as anywhere: panel first, then the big loads, one at a time, watching for the fault the outage may have been hiding.
During the outage: generator outside and away from windows, feeding the inlet, never a dryer outlet; the main breaker managed exactly as your interlock or transfer switch requires; and sensitive electronics unplugged where surge protection is absent, because the roughest power of an event is often the restoration surge, not the storm itself.
After: walk the service before assuming the home is whole. A mast pulled by a limb, a meter base shifted, or water in outdoor boxes are utility and electrician findings that should be assessed before full load returns. If half the house is dim or wild in brightness after restoration, that is a possible lost utility neutral: reduce loads, call the utility, and treat it as urgent, because that fault damages equipment by the hour.
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