Los Angeles utility worker seriously injured while trying to restore power during storms

A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power worker was critically injured as he attempted to restore power in the San Fernando Valley Saturday as a historic winter storm ravaged Southern California.

The employee was admitted to hospital and intensive care on Sunday, according to a press release from DWP.

“This accident and the serious injury to our employee are a reminder that our line crews and other field personnel are truly unsung heroes who work in hazardous conditions and risk their lives to keep the power flowing through our city,” General Manager Martin Adams said in the statement. release. .

About 27,600 customers were without power Monday morning after the powerful storm ravaged Southern California this weekend with high winds, rain and snow, according to a spokesman for the utility in LA. The DWP had supplied power to about 140,000 customers since the start of the storm.

Crews are still working to restore power after the storm toppled trees, power poles and power lines. Other failures resulted from water intrusion and flooding. The average response time to an outage increased from 12-24 hours on Saturday morning to 24-48 hours, the DWP said.

Many customers over the weekend were outraged that their power was out for more than two days, some fearing their groceries or medicines would spoil without refrigeration.

“Strong winds and heavy rains like the ones we’ve been experiencing can cause significant damage, but our crews are continuing to make steady and strong progress and will be working around the clock until everyone is up and running again,” said Brian Wilbur, senior assistant general manager of the DWP, in the press release.

Some of the communities hardest hit by power outages include Glassell Park, Green Meadows, Hancock Park, Hollywood, Studio City, Chatsworth, Mission Hills, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Tarzana, Van Nuys, and Woodland Hills.