Thousands Loose Power As Heavy Winds Knock Down Power Lines

High winds downed power lines in the Los Angeles area and in southern Orange County, impacting thousands of customers on Christmas, local utilities reported today.

In Irvine, almost 5,600 Southern California Edison customers were without power. Electricity was restored to all but 110 of them by 5:30 p.m., according to the utility.

At 8:30 a.m., the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power estimated about 7,200 customer accounts were without power.

By 5:30 p.m., only 500 were still left in the dark.

The DWP computer showed customers were without power in various locations around Los Angeles, including Hollywood, Hyde Park, Tarzana, North Hills, Echo Park, Chinatown, Cheviot Hills, Century City, Beverlywood and Adams- Normandie.

By Christmas evening, 2,277 Southern California Edison customers still were without power. In Hawthorne, 927 remained without electricity, while more than 900 in El Monte were still without power.

• City News Service