Lights are still out for 30,000
More than 30,000 Los Angeles residents remained without power for a second day Friday as workers struggled to repair damage caused by a Thursday windstorm that toppled lines throughout the city.
Department of Water and Power workers made more than 1,000 repairs to power lines damaged by downed trees and winds of up to 50 mph. Among the areas still without power Friday were Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, South Los Angeles and Mt. Olympus.
About 300 DWP employees were working 16-hour shifts to deal with the outages, department officials said.
“All of the damage was wind-related, and right now it is an issue of the sheer number of outages,” DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said at a news conference Thursday. “While some customers may be experiencing significant outages in excess of 24 hours, they are steadily coming back.”
At the peak of the outages, at 7 p.m. Thursday, about 110,000 DWP customers were without power -- about 8% of the utility’s 1.4 million customers. DWP work crews expected to have power restored to most customers by Sunday, officials said.
David Nahai, president of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners, compared the widespread damage to what might be caused by a moderate earthquake. “We have to be cognizant that our climate here in Los Angeles is capable of these things,” Nahai said.
The DWP advised residents to take safety precautions if they were without power for extended periods. Residents should use flashlights, not candles, and should wear warm clothing at night instead of lighting fires indoors. The city also suggested residents keep light switches turned on so they would know when power returned. Refrigerators and freezers should remain closed to keep food fresh. When power returns, food should be inspected for signs of spoilage.
Echo Park resident Pedro Martinez said his family followed the city’s advice, keeping the refrigerator closed to keep their food as cool and fresh as possible. Power was restored Thursday evening, he said.
“I was worried about my food, but we didn’t have to throw anything away,” Martinez said. “We understood there was nothing they could do. It was the wind, and they were working as fast as they could.”
The House of Spirits liquor store on Echo Park Boulevard was without power for about seven hours, until Thursday evening.
Workers discarded melted ice and ice cream and turned away customers who wanted to pay by credit card, said Rich Huang, a store manager. “We lost a lot of business because customers complained that the beer was not cold enough,” Huang said. “It was very frustrating. A lot of customers came in and walked out. We probably lost close to two grand.”
Residents who want to report outages may call the DWP’s 24-hour hotline at (800) 342-5397.
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stuart.pfeifer@latimes.com
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