2,000 still lack power after storm

About 2,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers of Southern California Edison throughout Los Angeles remained without power Wednesday after high winds and rains wreaked havoc on the Southland on Tuesday.

At least five steel transmission towers were demolished, downing numerous wooden poles and power lines.

Some customers in the hardest-hit areas -- including the City of Commerce, Compton, Montebello, Hawthorne and Bellflower -- have been without power since Tuesday afternoon and may remain without it until this morning, a Southern California Edison official said.

Working around the clock, Edison crews had restored electricity to 3,000 customers since Wednesday morning, when more than 5,000 customers were without power.

Meanwhile, power had been restored as of midmorning Wednesday to all but 359 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in Silver Lake and Mount Olympus. Officials could not be reached for an update late Wednesday.

Edison spokesman Steve Conroy said he had not seen such severe wind damage in 28 years on the job. The 66,000-volt steel transmission towers, which are near the Commerce Casino and visible from the 605 Freeway, tumbled down midafternoon Tuesday.

“It’s the most surreal thing I’ve seen,” Conroy said. “We’re trying to get that stuff removed.”

A dozen or more wood poles were sheared off in the gusts, which had calmed down by Wednesday, Conroy said.

DWP spokeswoman Kim Hughes said the agency had 39 crews repairing or replacing wires.

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