LOS ANGELES (AP) - Crews worked to restore electricity to tens of thousands of people Wednesday after a night of strong winds across Southern California.
Some 77,000 utility customers were blacked out during the windy period that began Tuesday and continued into Wednesday but only about 11,000 customers were still without power by Wednesday night, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Some outages could last 12 to 24 hours, the DWP said.
Morning rush hour commuters had to deal with non-functioning traffic signals.
“This #LAWind is leaving toppled trees and power outages in its path,” the Los Angeles Police Department tweeted. “Please be careful out there.”
The winds blew in from the north-northwest late Tuesday, toppling trees onto cars and homes, downing wires and blowing debris around.
One huge tree was left leaning against a five-story apartment building in Westwood.
In Baldwin Park, 12-year-old Melanie Valle watched a tall liquid amber fall on the home of elderly neighbors.
“I was playing my game - I had finished my homework - I heard a crunch and then I turned around and the whole thing just came down, and it was a big thud and a big gust of dirt came up,” she told KCAL-TV. “I went to go get help immediately.”
The station reported that the neighbors were OK.
Winds hit 74 mph (119 kph) in the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles, 61 mph (98 kph) in Malibu and 58 mph (93 kph) in Beverly Hills, the National Weather Service said.
Wind speeds began to drop off early Wednesday along most of the coast and in the valleys but warning-level gusts persisted in many mountain locations, the NWS said.
In Palm Springs, a brush fire that forced evacuation of about 20 homes late Tuesday was contained at 40 acres (16 hectares), The Desert Sun reported.
Another round of winds was expected to develop Thursday night.
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