28K in Northeast Los Angeles Still Without Power

Update:

According to LADWP, as of 9:15 a.m. the number of customers without electricity in Highland Park is down to 2,600. Glassell Park remained the hardest hit neighborhood, with 6,900 customers still with electricity

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During an emergency press conference on Thursday, Mayor Antonia Villaraigosa urged Angelenos to be patient as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews worked to repair power outages caused by a once in a lifetime windstorm on Wednesday evening.

As of Friday night, that patience was running out for many of the 35,000 LADWP customers still without electricity in their homes, the vast majority of whom lived in Northeast Los Angeles.

According to LADWP figures, 27,500 of the customers without out power were Northeast L.A. residents.

As of 10 p.m. on Friday evening, 6,300 Higland Park residents were still without electricity--the most of any neighborhood in the city aside from neighboring Glassell Park, where 8,400 customers were without power.

For comparison sake, the power had been restored to the nearly 10,000 Venice residents who were blacked out for the windstorm as of Friday evening, leading some Northeast L.A. residents to say they felt that their neighborhoods had not been prioritized by LADWP.

Others, like residents along Ave. 57--where massive felled ficus trees uprooted sidewalks, sheared power lines, crushed cars and destroyed roofs--said the lack of tree maintenance in the area had increased the severity of the storm's impact on the area and made restoring power even more difficult.

LADWP did not provide exact outage figures for Mount Washington, however, a lengthy conversation on the Mount Washington Association's Facebook page showed that residents from West Ave. 46 Street, to Rome Drive, to Elyria Canyon Drive were all without electricity.

Via their Twitter page, LADWP crews urged locals to be patient.

"[35,000 customers] out in City of LA, [with] 177k restored so far. We know it's very hard if [you are one] of the 35K. [Thanks] for [your] patience as we [continue] [restoration] efforts.

LADWP said crews were still working on approximately 225 outage incidents, which was down from more than 1,000, adding there was still a "ways to go."

According to an LADWP update on Friday evening, residents could expect power back "24 - 48 hours from the start of an outage," a promise that rang hollow for many residents who were entering their third evening without electricity.

On Friday evening, LADWP had the same request of blacked out customers as Villaraigosa: Patience.

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For those still without power, Fresco Community Market in Hermon is offering their coolers and freezers to residents who want to keep their food from spoiling. Owner Jon Murga said all folks have to do is place their food in bags, label it with their name and phone number and bring it to the shop.

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As of Friday, just before midnight, here's what @highlandpatch's Twitter friends had to say when asked if their power had been restored:

Hail_Mary87 said: @HighlandPatch I wish! Not 50/Fig. Isabel/Kemper on Mt. Wash off Cypress does!

Soulbarn said: @HighlandPatch Terrace 49 - entire street still dark. It feels - emphasis feels - that @ladwp did not prioritize NELA. #LAwind

TheEricGosselin said: @HighlandPatch not me. I'm at Monte Vista and Ave 50

Kristina_Luna said: @HighlandPatch @LADWP Our Mt Wash power has been on again/off again all eve. Definitely grateful for the on again moments! #LAWind

RealBarryJive said: @HighlandPatch @LADWP it is officially 48 hours since my power went out and still no power up on dexter street. #LADWP_FAIL #lawinds #lies

WombletonLPs45s said: Ours just came back on N Ave 57. Hope it stays on!