Windstorm prompts power outage, school closures in S. Calif.
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Xinhua, December 2, 2011
A strong windstorm lashed Southern California overnight, leaving some 300,000 residents without power and forcing many school to close while the region is still recovering from the hit Thursday morning.
The violent offshore windstorm, dubbed "Santa Ana wind," occasionally gusted to near 100 miles (160 km) per hour as one of the fiercest winds in recent memory. It knocked down trees, utility poles and power lines, sparked fires, left tens of thousands of residents in the dark and caused a number of flights to divert to other airports.
The City of Pasadena declared a local emergency and urged residents to stay home and keep their children out of school to avoid roads strewn with downed limbs and power lines.
"We want to encourage residents to stay home as much as possible today, and for parents to keep kids home from school, due to the many impassible roads from thousands of downed tree limbs, downed power lines and fires," said Lisa Derderian, Emergency Management Coordinator for the City of Pasadena.
The weather forecasters said a high wind warning remains in effect until noon on Thursday, which will affect the Los Angeles County coast including downtown Los Angeles city.
A number of school in Pasadena, Arcadia, San Marino and several other surrounding cities were forced to close.
All Arcadia Unified public schools were closed for Thursday as a precautionary measure due to potential hazards at campus locations and road closures or hazards, Arcadian assistant city manager Jason Kruckeberg said in a statement.
Some of the pre-school classes and nurseries also shut their door due to power outage and dangerous roads which posed safety risks to children.
All events, classes, or sports related activities conducted through the Recreation & Community Services Department are cancelled for Thursday and Friday due to severe condition, the Arcadia Police Department announced on its website.
The Operation Center in the city was partially activated while various city departments are working together to address incidents associated with this wind event.
An hour-long power outage also wreaked havoc with the Los Angeles International Airport which started 7 p.m. Wednesday, causing 20 inbound domestic flights, as well as three international flights to be diverted to other area airports, airport officials said.
A teacher from an Arcadian nursery said that this was the strongest and severest wind she has ever seen in 35 years.
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