San Gabriel Valley cities struggle to get up and running in the wake of a powerful Santa Ana-fueled windstorm that downed trees and caused power outages. In Arcadia, damage to trees in the Los Angeles County Arboretum was extensive. Arcadia Mayor Gary Kovacic said the storm downed more than 500 trees and seven buildings had been red-tagged. Damage estimates were pegged at more than $1 million. Santa Anita Park reopened for simulcast wagering yesterday. Photos.
Mayors of seven San Gabriel Valley cities that were hard hit by last year's ferocious windstorm are making a plea to Governor Jerry Brown for state disaster relief. The seven cities include Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Arcadia, Temple City, San Marino, South Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge.
Clean-up may cost millions in the aftermath of the windstorm that hit in the early hours of December 1. Power is still out in many communities, hundreds of homes damaged and thousands of trees have snapped.
Hurricane strength winds blew through the San Gabriel Valley early yesterday, damaging buildings, downing trees and knocking out power to thousands across the region. Temple City, Sierra Madre, San Marino and Pasadena were especially hard hit by the 70 mph winds that left a trail of destruction from Boyle Heights in East Los Angeles to Irwindale and Azusa. Several cities, including Pasadena, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Arcadia, Glendora, Alhambra and South Pasadena have been declared states of emergency. Schools were either closed or on a modified schedule yesterday. See related story on p. A3, A4, A5
While Pasadena is still cleaning up debris from the recent windstorm, other smaller cities that were hard hit, including Temple City and Arcadia, have completed their residential debris removal.
Arcadia officials urge residents to report wind damage from the overnight windstorm that hit on November 30 and December 1, to help with efforts to receive state and federal emergency assistance. Damages in the city may reach the millions of dollars. Residents are asked to report their storm-related costs to the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management, 211a.org or by calling 211.
Wind-swept cities slowly recover from a severe windstorm that blew through the San Gabriel Valley early Thursday morning. Arcadia was hit hard and "city crews and contracts are continuing to work hard to clean roadways," said Arcadia police Lieutenant Tom Leveque. Road closures that remained in effect in Arcadia on Friday morning included: westbound Colorado Street at Santa Anita Avenue; westbound Camino Real Avenue at El Monte Avenue; Longden Avenue between El Monte Avenue and Holly Avenue; Colorado Place between Colorado Boulevard and Huntington Drive; the 200 block of W. Leroy Street; the 1100 block of S. Fifth Avenue.
State official views damage caused by last week's windstorm. California Emergency Management Agency's acting secretary Mike J. E. Dayton toured 8 San Gabriel Valley cities that were hardest hit, including Altadena, Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Temple City, San Gabriel and Alhambra, to assess the damage. He will determine whether state or federal assistance may be applicable.
Southern California Edison (SCE) works to restore power to crisis areas after a destructive 70 mph windstorm hit yesterday early morning, and caused power outages in Pasadena, San Gabriel, Alhambra, Arcadia, Altadena, Monrovia, El Monte, Sierra Madre, Temple City, and San Marino.
Southern California Edison (SCE) workers continued their round-the-clock efforts to restore the San Gabriel Valley's power grid following the extensive damage that occurred during early Thursday's windstorm. The hardest hit customer areas were Arcadia, Altadena, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Montebello, Monrovia, Rosemead, San Gabriel and Temple City. About 135,000 SCE customers remained without electricity.
More high winds expected. Clean-up efforts remain ongoing across San Gabriel Valley. With Santa Ana winds expected to batter Southern California for several days this week, residents and work crews scrambled yesterday to clear downed trees, replace utility poles and restore power after the historic storm that hit Thursday, December 1, 2011. A small army of Southern California Edison (SCE) workers gathered in the Santa Anita Park race track parking lot--some waiting for orders, others moving the dozens of replacement transformers. SCE will need to bring power back to the 78,000 customers still without electricity as of yesterday afternoon.
Experts say fierce Santa Ana winds will return this week. Last week a brutal windstorm ripped through Southern California, leaving dozens of homes uninhabitable and toppled hundreds of trees in the San Gabriel Valley. Arcadia Unified School District is scheduled to open all its campuses today except Highland Oaks and Longley Way Elementary Schools.
Los Angeles County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich urged Southern California Edison (SCE) to restore power now to San Gabriel Valley residents that lost power in last week's windstorm.
The windstorm that hit San Gabriel Valley on November 30-December 1 leaves lessons. Utilities and city officials study what went wrong to be better prepared in future emergencies and disasters. Southern California Edison (SCE) restored power to the last of its 433,925 customers by Thursday--one week after the storm--and is now the subject of public criticism and a probe by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) for "prolonged power outages." Crews in Pasadena and surrounding cities are still clearing the streets.
Living without power. Wind troubles linger. Residents frustrated; damage costs elusive. Southern California Edison's (SCE) hardest hit areas include Arcadia, Monrovia and Templa City, where more than 2,800, 1,600, and 1,700 residents, respectively, are still without power. Arcadia's City manager Don Penman said he wouldn't be surprised if the public costs for recovery efforts exceeded $2 million.
Outage draws probe by California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to investigate the prolonged outages in Southern California Edison's (SCE) service area following last week's powerful windstorm. About 858 SCE customers in the San Gabriel Valley were still without power as of 7:00 PM yesterday, down from a total of about 434,000 initially affected by the windstorm.
Power outage creates feelings of isolationism in residents who were affected by last week's extreme winds. People have experienced extended power outages in Pasadena, San Marino, Sierra Madre, Temple City, South Pasadena, Monrovia and Arcadia.