3 Local Residents Killed in Strong Winds : Weather: Gusts up to 45 m.p.h. hamper rescue and firefighting operations. Power outages affect hundreds.

Powerful winds gusting in excess of 40 m.p.h. knocked out electrical power and hampered fire and rescue efforts throughout Southern California on Sunday and were blamed for the deaths of three San Fernando Valley area residents.

A Glendale man disappeared near Venice after a large wave knocked him off his Boogie board, and two elderly residents died in wind-fed house fires in Pacoima and Reseda.

The 36-year-old Glendale man was believed to have drowned after being knocked off his Boogie board by a large wave Saturday evening in Venice. Winds impeded efforts to find the man, and divers battling strong currents and near-zero visibility halted their search until conditions improved.

Firefighters also fought strong winds as they tried to put out a blaze in Pacoima early Sunday that killed an 80-year-old woman. City Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said that winds of 35 m.p.h. and gusts up to 45 m.p.h. impeded efforts to put out the conflagration on Daventry Street.

More than $50,000 in damage was done in the 12:30 a.m. fire, which began in the garage of a single-family home, Wells said. After a 25-minute battle, firefighters extinguished the fire and found the woman. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

A few hours later, at 5:30 a.m., a house fire on Cantlay Street in Reseda killed a 78-year-old man, Wells said, and did about $14,000 damage to his home. Its cause was under investigation.

Near Van Nuys Airport, more than 600 homes went without power for two hours. Lucia Alvelais, a spokesperson for the Department of Water and Power, said falling trees and branches hit power lines and downed wires.

Wind also snapped branches in South-Central Los Angeles, leaving more than 100 homes without electricity for a few hours, Alvelais said.

Power resumed by noon Sunday in most places.