Santa Ana Winds Lead to Destruction of Power Lines, Causing Power Outages

Power outages caused by the Santa Ana Winds struck throughout Los Angeles, particularly affecting LADWP customers. 

On October 26th, 2020, strong winds, ranging from 60 to 90 miles per hour struck the greater Los Angeles area. These winds, known as the Santa Ana winds, blow in from Southern California’s mountain passages and are known for their warm, dry nature, their great speed and strength, and their capability to exasperate wildfires. A small brush fire did occur in the Topanga Canyon area but was quickly extinguished, making the most significant effect of the Santa Ana winds the downing of numerous power-lines by thrown tree-debris. 

In the wake of these lines being downed, much of LA lost power, with Westwood, Hollywood, Sawtelle, Studio City, and Woodland Hills experiencing the greatest outages. Out of the 186,000 homes that lost power, 10,600 of them were covered by the LADWP. In the neighborhood of Brentwood, a complete power outage occurred, leading some to leave their neighborhood for the day, and others being forced to miss a day of remote work or learning.  

Over on Nextdoor.com, one Mandeville Canyon resident said, “Ludicrous. Every time it’s windy out. It wouldn’t be so bad if their bills weren’t outrageous. Or trees falling on power lines didn’t also result in massive fires.”

Power lines, especially along the ridges of high-fire zones such as the Santa Monica Mountains can be particularly dangerous. (Lili Burrows / News Road)

“Usually it is not the winds in-and-of-themselves that cause the power outages, but rather their effect on trees and branches. Fallen trees will sometimes take down power lines with them,” said LADWP spokesman Albert Rodriguez, “Tree branches swaying in the wind will make contact with power lines causing the line to start sparking. This is when customers will see fluctuation or lights flickering in their homes. If contact between the branch and line continues, our system automatically shuts off that particular circuit to avoid further damage. Our crews are then sent out to assess the lines.”

Rodriguez’s statement is supported by Claudia K, on Nextdoor, who said LADWP was “..turning off power all over LA today because of fire danger…” The crews Rodriguez mentioned were reportedly seen by some Nextdoor users, one of whom said “A crew of two showed up to check the transformers…and left after about 5 minutes. Lights are still out; going on 12 hours now…”

The LADWP spokesman illustrated two other factors in wind-related power outages. He first mentioned that palm fronds, like tree branches, can be dislodged by strong winds and sent into power-lines. He went on to mention Mylar Balloons that can become quite dangerous upon contact with power-lines. 

As winter approaches, inclement weather will grow more frequent. When asked about whether this implies more power outages in the future, Rodriguez said, “Outages are caused by a myriad of factors – wind just happens to be one of them. We can’t predict whether high winds will always cause outages. Sometimes they won’t, but LADWP is prepared for all possibilities.”Rodriguez pointed to assessing the DWP’s electrical distribution system,  the reliability of it, and then finding cost-effective ways to address the root causes of the distribution system, as steps LADWP is taking to prevent future power outages.

When asked what one can do to prepare for future power outages, Albert Rodriguez encouraged property owners to prune trees that may be near power-lines and to have tree doctors assess dead or distressed trees before they collapse. He also said that, in the event of a power outage, one should remain calm, keep flashlights and batteries at hand, turn off and unplug appliances, not use candles, and leave a light on so as to know when power returns and prevent circuit overloading, which can delay the restoration of services. Rodriguez cautioned against approaching downed power-lines as they can still be energized and pose a threat. He encouraged people who encounter downed power lines or have to report a power outage to use LADWP’s helpline: 1-800-342-5397.

Some individuals outside of DWP have proposed their own ways to prevent power outages. Ari C, who lives on Mandeville Canyon, questioned on Nextdoor, “…why don’t they get rid of these 100-year-old power poles and bury the lines underground like most other civilized 1st world countries?!?!”.