Dangerous Winds Whip SoCal, Leaving Trails Of Destruction
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Powerful winds roared across Southern California Friday, knocking down trees, toppling power lines and forcing Ontario International Airport to close.
Flights were diverted to Los Angeles International Airport and other airports late Friday. It was unclear when flights would be allowed to resume.
The gusts even broke windows in Terminal 4 and blew shattered glass inside the terminal.
In Valley Village, a tree fell on a car on the 101 Freeway near the Coldwater Canyon exit. The driver was not hurt.
Some glass fell and shattered about 3:35 p.m. in the 600 block of West Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles, causing cuts to a person's face.
Margaret Stewart of the Los Angeles Fire Department said she had no information about where the glass came from. But a broken window was visible on a nearby building's third or fourth floor. It was not clear if the incident was wind-related.
In Sylmar, strong gusts knocked down two 50-foot pine trees, taking out a power line as they crashed to the ground and landed on top of Charlie Forgozo's car.
"I've got to dab into the Christmas funds, and it's got to go towards fixing this. So not a great way to end the year," Forgozo said.
In Brentwood, two trees also toppled. One landed across Sunset Boulevard at Bristol Circle.
The other fell on a house on Mandeville Canyon Road and took out some power poles.
While driving along the 210 Freeway in Rancho Cucamonga, CBS2's Jasmine Viel captured a swirling dust cloud kicking up gusty winds.
In Santa Ana, security video caught a large tree limb falling onto a car. CBS2's Cristy Fajardo was there.
About 4,300 customers were without power shortly after 2 p.m in El Segundo, police reported.
Roughly 1,400 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers in the Sylmar area also suffered a power outage thanks to a fallen tree, according to the LADWP.
Another 2,300 Southern California Edison customers were affected by additional "scattered outages" possibly linked to high winds, but officials said maintenance issues were to blame for most of the outages.
Officials warned people to stay away from downed power lines, even if they do not appear to be live.
Strong winds and dry conditions are the perfect recipe for wildfires, prompting a red flag warning.
It is in effect until 6 p.m. Saturday for areas including the Santa Monica Mountains, inland Orange County, the San Fernando, Santa Clarita and eastern San Gabriel valleys.
In the Newhall area, a fire scorched more than eight acres of brush near the 14 Freeway.
Flames broke out at about 11:45 a.m. north of Sierra Highway, according to the California Highway Patrol.
It took two and a half hours for firefighters to put out the blaze.
Also Friday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a dust and ash advisory through Saturday morning related to the strong winds.
