Power Back in Much of Eagle Rock, Highland Park

In its latest news communication, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power reports that power has been restored to more than 80,000 customers since the worst windstorms in the Southland’s memory began Wednesday night.

Since 10 a.m. Thursday, power has been restored to 2,500 LADWP customers in Northeast L.A. and East L.A., including 3,800 customers in Eagle Rock and 1,900 in Highland Park, according to the LADWP. Citywide, 121,000 people still lack any power supply.

Power Restored to Oxy

Significantly, power was restored to all of , where collapsing high-voltage wires on Wednesday night resulted in one of the most potentially dangerous blazes, combined with the precautionary evacuation of 200-300 students. The college went without power for just an hour, although it decided not to hold classes, Assistant Communications Director Rhea Bojra said, adding that a decision has yet to be made about whether to convene classes on Friday.

Here is a campuswide message that the college sent out earlier Thursday:

"We have lost all power to campus and don't know when power will be restored by DWP. For staff, if your supervisor says you are not providing essential service, please go home. Students should remain in place; there is plenty of food and professional staff on hand. Parents: Not to worry, the inconvenience is temporary. A decision about whether classes will be held tomorrow will be announced later this evening."

To view the latest power availability figures for all communities, click this link to the DWP news site.

To view the figures as of 10 a.m. Thursday, click here.

Of the eight NELA/East L.A. neighborhoods listed, only three communities have less power outages than they did at 10 a.m.—Eagle Rock, Highland Park and Lincoln Heights. The remaining five—Glassell Park, Cypress Park, El Sereno, Griffith Park and Boyle Heights—have more customers without power than in the morning. (Cypress Park had the largest increase in the number of customers affected—more than 100 percent: 9,300 “powerless” customers at 3 p.m., compared to 4,600 at 10 a.m.)

Maychelle Yee, a LADWP spokesperson, explained that the reason for the fluctuating figures could be continued weather-related damage to power lines from falling objects—given that the winds are still blowing and are unlikely to die down until later Friday, although red-flag warnings are no longer in place (see National Weather Service details below).

“The winds are still strong and things that didn’t necessarily fall earlier are falling now,” she said. “Or it could be something that’s not even weather-related—it could be someone who crashed a car into a [power] pole,” she added.

Storm Expected to Subside Friday Afternoon

On the bright side, the National Weather Service has canceled its high wind warning, but Northeast L.A. residents can still expect winds at or in excess of 35 mph into Friday morning.

According to the National Weather Service: 

• Winds: Northeast 20 mph to 30 mph, with gusts reaching 40 mph in the hills. 
• Timing: Gusty winds will continue through Friday morning, then decrease rapidly Friday afternoon.
• Impacts: Winds this strong can make driving difficult, especially for larger vehicles. Additional tree damage is possible, especially in the case of trees that were weakened from strong winds Wednesday night. 
• Precautionary & Prepareedness Actions: A wind advisory means that winds of 35 mph or greater are expected. 

For a quick run-down on what to do in the event of a power outage or how to handle a downed power line, please visit our previous story from the morning, which has some key details from the LADWP.

And stay tuned for further developments.