As Winds Die Down, Cleanup, Repairs Start

Powerful Santa Ana winds that lashed Southern California earlier this week subsided Wednesday, providing work crews around the Valley with an opportunity to begin cleaning up the mess and assessing the damage.

Southern California Edison officials said that 515 repair crews--more than 100 pressed into service from other areas of California and five other states--were busy responding to a list of more than 6,500 reported cases of damaged power lines and transformers.

Most of the crews were sent to the hardest hit areas in the San Fernando, San Gabriel and San Bernardino valleys.

Though 8,500 homes around the Southland remained without power Wednesday, Edison officials said that electricity had been restored to all areas of the San Fernando Valley.

In the hard-hit city of San Fernando, officials said damage resembled the aftermath of the 1994 Northridge earthquake. No injuries were reported, but officials said property damage was extensive as dozens of homes and businesses were damaged by falling trees. A police patrol car was also partly crushed when a roof collapsed on top of it.

“We’re a fairly small city and we’ve had over 200 trees that were blown down,” said Det. Mike Somerville of the San Fernando Police Department. “Some of the trees that fell were large eucalyptus and pine trees. There are crews out all over the city, but it’s going to take some time to get to everything.”

Edison officials once again warned people to treat downed power lines as though they were energized and to stay a safe distance away. Residents of San Fernando can call (800) 611-1911 to report downed lines, and can call City Hall at (818) 898-1200 with questions on other wind-related damage.

The 24-hour toll-free number for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is (800) DIAL-DWP.