140,000 Homes and Businesses Still Without Power This Morning

Around 140,000 homes and businesses were still without power this morning in the greater Los Angeles area, and many parks and buildings remained closed amid concerns of what today's red flag warning would bring.

Just how disruptive the windstorms have been was illustrated by the Los Angeles Fire Department trip record, which reported its crews responded to 2,197 incidents during the 24-hour period ending at 11:59 p.m. Thursday compared to 1,022 incidents during a normal day.

A red flag warning for much of the area will take effect at 6 a.m. and last until 2 p.m. Sunday.

"The potential exists for another round of gusty northeast winds this afternoon into Sunday over Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with very low humidities," according to a National Weather Service advisory.

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl L. Osby ordered 290 additional personnel and other resources pre-deployed in preparation for today's predicted high winds and increased fire danger.

The National Weather Service forecast weather conditions running through Sunday afternoon that could increase the fire risks for L.A. County.

Thursday's winds -- the worst seen in the region in decades, according to Southland firefighters and repair crews, uprooted trees, sheared off thousands of tree limbs and caused high-power lines to topple, wreaking havoc with power supplies throughout the Southland.

As of 10 p.m. Friday, 37,000 customers were without power in Los Angeles. That's 60,000 less than late Thursday, said Joseph Ramallo of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. While the outages were citywide, the hardest-hit communities were Venice, Westchester, Hollywood, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Cypress Park and Los Feliz.

As of 2:45a.m., Southern California Edison still had 103,778 customers without power due to the recent wind storms, utility spokesman David Song said.

Crews from both the DWP and SCE worked for the third consecutive evening through the night to end the outages, which were affecting both residential and commercial customers.

However, Edison officials said affected customers should have power by Sunday, and the DWP advised customers to be prepared to be without power for 24 to 48 hours from the start of the outage, cautioning that a small percentage could be without power longer.

"Crews will continue to work around the clock until power is restored," Edison's Lois Pitter Bruce said.

A similarly intense cleanup effort was expected on streets clogged by downed tree limbs and uprooted trunks.

The South Pasadena Senior Center at 1102 Oxley St. was turned into a shelter by the city Friday to help residents without power, according to the South Pasadena police.

"The shelter will remain open for residents without power or heat and no other options for off-site shelter for the duration of the outage," according to the police.     Red Cross resources were also being brought in to help make those seeking shelter as comfortable as possible, police said, adding that animals could be boarded through the Pasadena Humane Society. No animals were permitted in the shelter, police said.

Pasadena, one of several cities to declare a local emergency Thursday, reported that all its major streets were accessible today, as were most of its secondary streets. About 99 percent of Pasadena Water and Power customers had service restored Friday, City Manager Michael Beck said.     Four people were injured in the storm, and 37 people were taken to a temporary shelter at the Robinson Park Recreation Center. All but one was relocated late Friday.

"Despite some continued challenges, Pasadena is returning to normal," Beck said, adding that cleanup in the hard-hit city could take several weeks. "City resources will remain devoted to restoring services, parks and parkways to the high standards our community expects and deserves."

More than 600 trees fell, and the number of damaged street trees was unknown. There were 67 trees that fell at Brookside Golf Course and 120 more were severely damaged. The number of trees that fell or were severely damaged in city parks is unknown.

Pasadena city officials inspected about 200 homes and "red-tagged" 42 housing units -- 40 in the same apartment building -- as unsafe for occupancy, said Pasadena Emergency Management Coordinator Lisa Derderian. There were 13 structures that were yellow-tagged. Derderian noted some buildings can have units that are red-tagged and others not.

In San Marino, most of which was without electricity Thursday night, 11 homes were red-tagged, police said, and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens remained closed today.

The Pasadena Unified School District canceled classes, after-school programs, events and sports-related activities at all campuses Thursday and Friday. District officials said schools were expected to be reopened on Monday.

Also closed Friday were 18 Los Angeles Unified School District schools with no power and the schools of the Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Duarte, La Canada, Monrovia, San Gabriel, South Pasadena and Temple City unified school districts. Most schools were expected to re-open Monday.

Griffith Park, one of North America's largest urban parks at more than 4,300 acres, was expected to re-open today. L.A. Recreation and Parks General Manager Jon Kirk Mukri ordered the closure Thursday because of downed trees and the danger of additional damage from continuing gusts.

In Glendale, wind gusts caused damage Thursday to The Americana at Brand's 100-foot-tall Christmas tree, though the mall remained open for business.

In Los Angeles, red flag parking restrictions expired 8 a.m. Friday.

-- City News Service