Homes and business remained without power for a second consecutive day Friday after strong winds brought down trees and power lines and left debris across a wide swath of Southern California.
Notifications From City of Pasadena | Article: What Wind Insurance Covers
LADWP and SoCal Edison crews worked through the night, and cleanup crews fanned out across the region again Friday to clear branches and other wind-scattered debris from streets.
As recovery efforts continue, another round of strong wind might arrive later Friday.
Weather Forecast: Wind speeds are expected to drop Friday evening, but not until another round of windy weather sweeps through the LA area.
"It looks like we're going to have winds, off and on, through the weekend," said NBC4 forecaster Byron Miranda.
Sustained winds in the 45-60-mph range are in the forecast with gusts to around 85 mph. Peak winds around the rest of the county were expected to top out around 50 mph.
The most powerful wind gust during the past two days was clocked at 97 mph Thursday in Castaic, according to the National Weather Service. There was an unverified report of a 101 mph gust in Mount Washington.
Winds that caused most of the damage late Wednesday and early Thursday were clocked at 60 to 70 mph, the NWS said.
Damage and Cleanup: A state of emergency was declared across LA County late Thursday. The heaviest hit area was Pasadena, where some roads remain blocked by trees, branches and power poles.
"We still have large trees blocking streets and getting them removed is a priority today,'' said Lisa Derderian, Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Pasadena.
About 200 buildings were damaged in Pasadena. More than 40 buildings were red tagged, meaning they are not inhabitable.
"It will take weeks to get this stuff clear," said contractor Tony Martinez. "We've got some crews, the city has some crews, so if we keep this up we're talking about a month or so."
Power Outages: Power should be restored to about 122,000 homes in LA by Sunday, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Friday morning. Crews from Utah, Arizona and other states are on their way to assist with power restoration, the mayor said.
As of 8 a.m. Friday, 140,197 SoCal Edison customers were without service. More than 226,000 customers were without service Thursday afternoon.
As for LADWP customers, about 102,000 were without power early Friday. At 10 a.m., the LADWP reported that 67,000 of its 1.4 million electric customers were without power.
Fire Danger: A red-flag warning -- indicating wildfire risk -- was canceled Friday for LA and Ventura counties.
School Cancellations: Pasadena schools were closed again Friday. Pasadena Unified School District employees are expected to report for work to prepare for the reopening of schools on Monday.
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Citrus College in Glendora and schools in the Alhambra, Arcadia, Azusa, Duarte, Glendora, La Canada, Monrovia, San Gabriel, San Marino, South Pasadena and Temple City districts were also closed.
For a list of cancellations, click here.
Griffith Park: The 4,000-plus acre park remains closed for hiking Friday, but a spokeswoman for the parks and recreation department said the main roads are open. The park, home to hiking trails, golf courses and the LA Zoo, was closed Thursday afternoon because of wind-related damage and fire danger.
The park was expected to reopen Saturday.
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