3,367 Malibuites Lose Power

MALIBU, CA — Gusty Santa Ana winds ranging from 60 to 90 miles an hour wreaked havoc on Malibu Monday, resulting in 3,367 people losing power, a small brush fire in Topanga, and fallen trees. A National Weather Wind Advisory is in effect in Malibu and across Los Angeles and Ventura counties until Tuesday at 12 p.m., and a Red Flag Warning is in effect until Tuesday at 6 p.m.

At the 11 am hour, numerous weather stations showing Red Flag conditions across LA/Ventura counties, depicted in red. The yellow stations are approaching Red Flag conditions. #LAWeather #LAwind #cawx pic.twitter.com/yJwHEcfQ4t
— NWS Los Angeles (@NWSLosAngeles) October 26, 2020

A total of 985 customers around Corral Canyon, 2,332 customers in Point Dume, and 50 customers on Ocean View Drive off Latigo Canyon Road, found themselves without power as of 1:46 p.m. Monday, according to Southern California Edison. Traffic signals along Pacific Coast Highway at Corral, Zumirez, and Heathercliff roads were also reported as broken. Residents are advised to treat broken traffic signals like a four-way stop sign, and watch out for debris along the roads.

SCE was not able to comment on the cause of the outages in Point Dume or Corral Canyon, but it did list "equipment problems" as the reason for the Ocean View Drive outage. Similarly, it could not say when power would be restored to Point Dume or Corral Canyon, but estimated power would be restored Ocean View Drive in by 11:30 p.m. Monday.

The outages were not listed as intentional Public Safety Power Outages, which are deployed during windy weather to avoid fires. The nearest Public Safety Power Outages are reported in parts of Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, and Moorpark.

Downed trees in Malibu have blocked Cuthbert Road near Harvester Road, as well as the 6700 block of Dume Drive, according to city emergency services officials. It's unclear how long it will take to clear the fallen trees. Winds also broke a hanger of the Morning View Drive sign above eastbound PCH, before Caltrans crews showed up to repair it.

The city of Malibu reported that Public Works is patrolling city streets and canyon roads monitoring for downed power lines, tree branches, road hazards, and clearing debris from roadways. It has also closed Trancas Canyon Park, Charmlee Wilderness Park, and temporary skate park, and will announce when they have reopened.

A brush fire broke out around 11 a.m. at the 21060 block of Winfield Road, near Topanga State Park. The fire burned a quarter of acre on grassy lands, but was quickly knocked down due to extra personnel nearby due to the Red Flag Warning. The fire was knocked down at 11:37 a.m. with no threats of advancing or to nearby structures, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

According to the National Weather Service, Monday saw the most critical fire weather conditions in Southern California since October 2019 due to a combination of strong winds, very low humidities, and very dry fuels.

Please check on neighbors and friends who are elderly, disabled or have mobility challenges. Check the Malibu Emergency Survival Guide for tips on preparing for evacuations: www.MalibuCity.org/SurvivalGuide.

To see the City’s Evacuation Plan, Evacuation Zones, and to look up what Evacuation Zone you live in, visit www.MalibuCity.org/Evac.

Monitor fire weather conditions at: https://www.weather.gov/lox.
See all current City of Malibu emergency, weather, traffic and utility alerts: www.MalibuCity.org/alerts.

Sign up to receive City of Malibu emergency, weather, traffic and utility alerts y text and email: www.MalibuCity.org/news.

Sign up for LA County emergency alerts: https://lacounty.gov/emergency/alert-la.

For information on how to prepare for SCE Public Safety Power Shutoffs (PSPS) power outages, visit www.MalibuCity.org/PSPS. Check current power outages with SCE’s outage map: https://www.sce.com/safety/wildfire/psps.

— Refresh for updates.