LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Thousands of people in Los Angeles County were without power today, as strong Santa Ana winds buffeted the Southland and blew tree debris into power lines.
About 10,600 Los Angeles Department of Water & Power customers lost power throughout the city, but the largest outages were reported in Woodland Hills, Westwood, Hollywood, Sawtelle and Studio City, according to LADWP, which wrote on Twitter the most common reason for outages during wind storms are tree branches and palm fronds.
LADWP said the estimated time for returning power to those customers was about four to 12 hours from the start of the outage, but the time the outages began was not immediately available.
Southern California Edison customers in Los Angeles County also lost power Monday due to wind. According to the company's media representative Reggie Kumar, on an ``average blue sky day,'' about 4,000 to 6,000 customers throughout its coverage region lose power, while during high winds on Monday, over 90,000 Southern California Edison customers experienced outages.
Over 8,000 Southern California Edison customers lost power in Los Angeles County Monday, but the company was still determining exactly how many were due to weather. According to its website, it had confirmed that wind created an outage for 269 customers in La Canada Flintridge and 45 customers in San Dimas.
Windy conditions were expected to last through Tuesday in most of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, but the most damaging gusts were expected Monday.
Gusts of 60 to 90 mph were observed Monday across the Los Angeles County mountains and adjacent foothills, according to the National Weather Service, including 96 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains south of Santa Clarita. Gusts of 45 to 65 mph were forecast in valleys and wind-prone coastal areas.
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