Ill Winds Trash Parade Floats, Clutter Foothills

First the lights went out. Then the metal frame shuddered and groaned, its canvas folds billowing in the hurricane-force winds that roared out of nearby Azusa Canyon. The 3-feet-long steel spikes that anchored the support beams of the huge tent jerked 8 inches out of the ground, cracking the surrounding asphalt. The tent’s aluminium frame bounced wildly up and down with the breeze.

Workers had pulled one of the floats destined for the upcoming Tournament of Roses Parade halfway out of the tent when it all came down about 3:15 a.m. Thursday. It sounded like a bomb exploded, said one person who was half a block away from the float preparation site in Azusa.

Cluttered by Debris

The foothill communities in the San Gabriel Valley were cluttered by felled trees, snapped power poles, torn shingles and streets strewn with debris from the strong winds that blew through the mountain canyons.

At intersections where traffic lights were inoperable, stop signs stood weighted down by sand bags. Rows of trees were toppled. On Foothill Boulevard near San Gabriel Avenue in Azusa, a traffic light pole was snapped like a toothpick made of concrete.

At the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, 10 large trees were uprooted; the garden closed its gates to visitors as a safety precaution.

Parks in the area were covered in broken branches and leaves. Piles of fronds littered the bottom of denuded palm trees. A number of trees hit cars and homes; no injuries were reported.

The more than $100,000 damage done to floats--the subject of parade-watchers throughout the nation on New Year’s Day--in the frenzied days of preparation was the result of an ill wind indeed.

“We’ll get it done, but we’ll be tired,” said Tim Estes, owner of Fiesta Parade Floats, which had several entries in the tent. He said crews will be working around the clock from now on.

In the dark hours after the collapse, the 10-ton floats bashed into each other as the furious winds kept whipping the tent, which was half the size of a football field. Four portable generators powered tools as crews began reconstruction at 6 a.m.

By late afternoon, with electricity still out, cranes were pulling down the last of the standing aluminium beams. Many of the posts broke during the night, sounding like firecrackers going off, Estes said. Some of the beams were almost bent double.

The $250,000 tent was designed to withstand 80-m.p.h. winds, Estes said.

“These winds were just too much,” he said. “You thought hell was going on.”

In surrounding communities, Christmas decorations were blown askew; signs everywhere were toppled. One porch in Monrovia was ripped asunder. Some lawns were covered with shingles.

Eight electricity poles on Foothill Boulevard were downed early Thursday, cutting power to 2,500 customers in the La Canada Flintridge area, said Peggy Towne, district manager of Southern California Edison. Two of the poles fell into the playground of the Child Educational Center, a preschool on Foothill Boulevard, forcing a cancellation of classes.

“It sure isn’t a safe place for children today,” said program director Elyssa Nelson.

La Canada Flintridge School District officials said schools would be closed today because of the electrical problems.

But for those who make their living cleaning up from inclement weather, the Devil Winds supplied business aplenty for the next several weeks.

“We’ve been swamped with calls,” said Jack Johnson, owner of Safeway Roofing in Temple City, who figured he receive at least 150 calls Thursday.

“I’ve been here in business since 1953 and this is the worst wind I’ve ever been part of,” he said. “If you’re in the roofing business, you’re going to be busy for the next two months.”

Tree-trimming companies also reported brisk business.

Tree cutter Peter Harnisch said he had several calls involving houses struck by felled arbors. In Burbank, he cut up a 60-foot black acacia that hit a garage, crushing a car inside.

“Just demolished it,” he said.