La Cañada avoids major damage, but stays in the dark

Though La Cañada Flintridge suffered its share of downed trees and busted fences Thursday, the worst issue appeared to be a continuing citywide power outage.

According to residents, the outage began at approximately 9 p.m. Wednesday, and has continued throughout the day, the result of a regional wind storm.

Ron Garcia, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said he was unable to say when power would be turned back on, though he hoped to have more information by the early evening.

Some stores remained open – including the Ralphs and Vons on Foothill Boulevard – powered by emergency generators. Landscapers welding gas-powered chainsaws filled La Cañada streets, attempting to clean up the debris.

Pushing a shopping cart filled with ice, longtime resident Tom Doyle said it had been nearly a decade since he’d seen such strong winds. The ice, he said, was to keep the food in his refrigerator from spoiling.

“The last time we had winds like this, they were those northeast winds that brought my oak tree down eight years ago,” he said.

City Manager Mark Alexander said the wind had not caused any major damage to structures or vehicles, and no fires or injuries had been reported. In addition, he noted that people have been careful at darkened signal lights, treating the intersections as four-way stops.

-- Daniel Siegal, La Cañada Valley Sun
Twitter: ValleySunDan

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