Thanksgiving Weather in Los Angeles: Strong winds damage all of SoCal; possible power cuts due to Thanksgiving

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) – Santa Ana winds continued to lash across southern California on Thursday, toppling large trees in residential neighborhoods as thousands of people lost power on Thanksgiving to prevent wildfires.

Southern California’s Edison said power was cut off Thursday lunchtime for more than 64,000 customers in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura and San Bernardino counties. Barriers were possible for a further 148,000 customers in seven districts.

The utility turns off electricity during strong Santa Ana wind events, as there is a risk of damaging power lines, equipment and igniting forest fires.

Edison says power is usually restored three to eight hours after the dangerous conditions have subsided, which means that most likely not until sometime Friday.

The red flag warnings went into effect Wednesday morning and will remain in effect for most of Friday due to strong gusts and low relative humidity, the National Weather Service said.

The extreme gusty conditions knocked over a massive tree in North Hollywood overnight, causing it to crash through the roof of a house that was marked red. Local residents were shocked when the tree cracked.

The man who lives in the house said he bruised his leg in the impact but is otherwise fine.

Some Orange County’s neighborhoods also saw damage from the high winds. A surveillance video captured the moment a large tree fell on parked cars on the 300 block of South Pacific Avenue in Santa Ana.

Two other trees have been reported on the 2200 block of South Magnolia and the 2100 block of West Chestnut near Lincoln Elementary School.

In Westminster, the strong wind may have started several fires overnight when it tore down some power lines and knocked over a tree.

A shed caught fire and the flames spread to other houses nearby. Firefighters called it a challenging night trying to secure shutdown power lines while grappling with strong gusts.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2021 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.