Storm Winds Cut Power to 22,700 Users

A storm that blasted through the San Fernando Valley area with winds of up to 50 m.p.h. knocked out power to more than 22,700 homes and businesses Friday.

The sudden 1 p.m. storm front struck the West Valley the hardest, blowing limbs into electrical lines in Woodland Hills, Canoga Park, Chatsworth and Simi Valley.

Power to 2,000 homes in Chatsworth and in a neighborhood on the Canoga Park-Woodland Hills boundary was cut for about six hours, said Treva Miller, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. In Encino, 2,000 homes affected by the power outage were expected to have power restored by midnight, she said.

Encino Station Hit

Transformers at an Encino receiving station failed at 1:45 p.m., cutting power to 16,200 homes and businesses for about two minutes, Miller said. The affected area was in Tarzana and Encino, south of the Ventura Freeway, she said.

About 500 homes in Sherman Oaks and Bel-Air were darkened when a circuit was knocked out near Mulholland Drive and Beverly Glen Boulevard. The gusty wind also cut power to scattered residences elsewhere in the Valley, she said.

An outage in northeast Simi Valley occurred at about 1:30 p.m. when a 16,000-volt transmission line was knocked out, said Bob Krauch, spokesman for Southern California Edison.

About 2,000 homes were affected, he said. Power was restored to all but 150 homes by nightfall, Krauch said. Those homes, in a trailer park, were expected to have their power restored by midnight, he said.