Strong Winds Down Power Lines
Strong winds gusting up to 45 mph blew down power lines throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara counties Sunday evening.
Starting around sunset, the Ventura County Fire Department received reports of power lines down along Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley, Sulphur Mountain Road near Ojai and Wheeler Canyon Road near Santa Paula. Other reports soon followed, most in the county’s mountainous areas.
Between 800 and 1,200 Ventura County customers lost power due to the downed lines, according to John Britton, regional manager for Southern California Edison. He did not know the precise location of the outages.
Santa Barbara County was hit harder. About 12,000 customers were receiving power off and on, Britton said, while 1,800 in Carpinteria lost power completely after a tree fell onto some power lines.
Many of those who did not lose electricity experienced brief dips in the level of power, Britton said. He did not know when his crews would be able to restore normal service.
“The way the wind’s blowing, as quickly as they can get one up they’ll go off somewhere else,” he said.
The high winds were expected to last into today and begin tapering off tonight, according to the National Weather Service.
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