Schiff to convene hearing today on windstorm response

The slow response to the windstorm that left thousands of residents in the dark last month will be the subject of intense scrutiny during a hearing today that will include testimony local and state representatives.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) and a panel of local officials plan to hear from Southern California Edison, public utilities in Pasadena and Glendale and federal and state emergency response officials from 9 to 11:30 a.m. today in the federal appellate courthouse in Pasadena.

While residents served by city-owned utilities in Burbank and Glendale did not experience power outages on the scale seen in San Gabriel Valley and East L.A. areas, officials from across the field are expected to discuss weaknesses in the system exposed by the wind damage.

Schiff said he hopes to illuminate the lessons learned in the windstorm that tore through the region Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, downing trees and power lines and leaving many residents and businesses in the dark for as long as a week.

“We should look at this windstorm as if it were a massive, unplanned and unrehearsed drill for a more serious disaster,” Schiff said in a statement.

The hearing takes place in courtroom 3 of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 125 S. Grand Ave., Pasadena.

-- Bill Kisliuk, Times Community News

Photo: One day after strong winds toppled trees throughout Pasadena, clean-up efforts began, like this Trimming Land Co., Inc. crew on the 2800 block of Hermanos St. in Pasadena on Friday, December 2, 2011. Credit: Raul Roa / Times Community News