Dangerous winds leave more than 13,000 customers in Southland without power

More than 13,000 customers across Southern California lost power Monday as gusty winds between 40 mph and 50 mph damaged trees, downed power lines and fanned small fires.

The National Weather Service issued high wind advisories and warnings Monday for the valleys, mountains and coastal areas that are expected to last until Tuesday morning. The warning indicates strong winds of up to 58 mph and possibly 65 mph for some areas.

By Monday evening the Los Angeles Fire Department had reported several incidents of structural damage due to high winds.

More than 2,700 lost power in Mid-City, and more than 3,100 were without power in Lake Balboa, Van Nuys and Valley Village, according to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Terry Schneider, a spokeswoman for the DWP, said most of the outages were probably weather related and caused by downed trees and loose palm fronds.

“Crews are going to be working through the night to get customers’ power restored,� Schneider said. The utility was working “as quickly as possible,� she added.

Wires were downed after a large oak fell, affecting three power poles in the 4000 block of North Sunnyslope Avenue in Sherman Oaks.

Strong winds downed two wires behind a two-story home in the 400 block of South Arden Boulevard in Hancock Park, resulting in several large trees catching fire. There were no injuries, according to the LAFD.

Southern California Edison said that the heavy winds caused small pockets of outages across Southern California: 153 customers lost power in El Monte; 88 in Lancaster; and nearly three dozen in Upland.

In Whittier, downed trees left two people with injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

A person was injured after a tree fell about 5:10 p.m. in the 12400 block of Washington Boulevard, near Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital.

A second person was injured about half an hour later near Norwalk Boulevard and El Rancho Drive, a fire official said. A vehicle struck a downed pine tree; the driver was taken to a hospital. The condition of each of the two people was not available.

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UPDATES:

10:50 p.m.: The story was updated with additional details on the number of customers affected by outages in Los Angeles.

The story was originally published at 10:40 p.m.