Thousands of SoCal Residents Without Power in Record Heat Wave – NBC Los Angeles


Thousands of SoCal Residents Without Power in Record Heat Wave – NBC Los Angeles

Thousands of people across Los Angeles County were without electricity Saturday amid a record-breaking heat wave, as both Southern California Edison and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reported scattered outages, with some customers not expected to see their power restored until after sundown.

SCE was experiencing most of the larger problems as of 4:30 p.m., with outages affecting 1,701 customers in Alhambra, 1,429 customers in an unincorporated area near Calabasas, 128 customers in Maywood, 88 in Norwalk and 50 in Santa Monica.

Approximately 14,000 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers were without power, the department reported. The most affected neighborhoods include Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw, Sun Valley, El Sereno, Reseda and Mid-City, according to the department. Crews are working to restore power, the department said.

Both utilities also reported a large number of scattered outages affecting fewer people.

The Southland was experiencing a historic heat wave this weekend, with forecasters predicting temperatures near all-time records in some areas. Woodland Hills broke its all-time record with a temperature of 118 on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Elsewhere, Van Nuys had reached 115 degrees by 3 p.m., while it was 115 in Chatsworth and Duarte, 114 in Calabasas, 113 in Pasadena, 112 in Santa Clarita and 111 in Burbank.

The California Independent System Operator, which manages the power grid, announced that a Flex Alert — a call for voluntary conservation — will be in effect from 3 to 9 p.m. Saturday through Monday. Urging voluntary conservation is an effort to stave off too much strain on the state’s electrical system, possibly leading to rolling power outages, like those that occurred during high heat last month.

An excessive heat warning issued by the NWS will be in effect until 8 p.m. Monday in the San Gabriel and Santa Monica mountains, Santa Catalina Island and the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, San Gabriel and Antelope valleys. In Orange County, the warning will be in force in coastal areas from 10 a.m. Saturday until 8 p.m. Monday.

Cooling centers will be open throughout the weekend in Los Angeles and Orange counties. They can be found at https://ready.lacounty.gov/heat/, and www.211oc.org/resource-centers/extreme-heat-cooling-centers.html.

Authorities noted that due to the coronavirus pandemic, cooling centers will be limited in capacity and restrictions will be in place, such as requiring face coverings.




Source link