Wind Causes California Power Outages

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By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA : Associated Press Writer Nov 26, 2002 : 2:28 pm ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Wind gusted to 50 mph across California for a second day Tuesday, causing power outages from the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego.

The wind also fanned brush fires in the Sierra Nevada and in the Los Angeles area.

Thousands of people woke up without electricity Tuesday in Los Angeles, Oakland and the San Diego area, and the blackouts and wind-blown debris created challenges for commuters.

"It was blowing like a railroad train at three this morning," said Steve Miller, 51, of the San Fernando Valley.

On Monday, the wind overturned tractor-trailer rigs on freeways, but no injuries were reported.

The wind, called the Santa Ana in Southern California, knocked out power to more than 50,000 customers Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley in northern Los Angeles, said Winifred Yancy, a spokeswoman with the Department of Water and Power. Hospitals had to use backup generators.

As many as 11,000 Pacific Gas & Electric Co. customers lost electrical service in the San Francisco Bay area during the night, but service was restored to all but 1,500 customers by 5:30 a.m. In Southern California, about 6,000 customers of San Diego Gas & Electric lost power near Lakeside.

The wind almost persuaded John Quigley to leave his perch in a 400-year-old oak tree in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Clarita, where he has been living for nearly a month to protest plans to cut it down.

"Let's just say I said a few prayers," Quigley said from his seat in the branches.

Quigley said three safety lines and a climbing harness kept him secure as the tree shook. "Think being on a ship in the middle of the sea," he said.

Flights out of Los Angeles International Airport were not affected, said spokeswoman Nancy Castles.

Weather forecasters said the wind blowing across the region toward the sea was caused by air flowing from a strong high pressure area over the Great Basin toward low pressure off the coast.

The National Weather Service clocked gusts at 77 mph Monday on the east side of the Verdugo Mountains, just north of Glendale. In Burbank, a gust was recorded at 53 mph.

The wind fanned small fires in the Sierra Nevada, the largest burning 1,000 acres Monday in the Eldorado National Forest.

Early Tuesday, gusts up to 30 mph fanned a 5-acre brush fire in northern Los Angeles. The fire was contained before it reached homes in the community of Shadow Hills. The fire was contained.

"Red Flag" warnings were in effect because the wind and low humidity created a high fire danger. Humidity fell to less than 10 percent on Monday.

-- Anonymous, November 26, 2002


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