Power Cut, Retail Sign Toppled As Wind Gusts Return To SoCal
SANTA ANA (CBS) — For the second time in as many weeks, high winds returned to the Southland on Friday, cutting power to dozens of homes and knocking down power lines and even toppling a large shopping center sign.
Most of the severe damage occurred in Orange County where police said "phones are ringing off the hook" with calls for help.
Police fielded 47 calls ranging from a power outage at 17th Street and Grand Avenue to a 100-foot-tall tree down at 2340 N. Poinsettia St., Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said..
The gusts sent a "huge sign" into four parked cars at 214 S. Grand Ave., Bertagna said.
Five trees taller than 40 feet high fell victim to the winds, Bertagna said.
Most of the calls to the Orange County Fire Authority involve power lines downed by the winds, said Capt. Marc Stone of the fire authority.
"We've got some actual poles down, too, in Yorba Linda on Yorba Linda Boulevard," Stone said.
But firefighters haven't had to respond to any wind-related blazes and no one has been hurt, Stone said.
Gusts up to 65 mph were recorded between 4 a.m and 5 a.m. in Fremont Canyon in Orange, said National Weather Service meteorologist Jamie Moker said.
The weather service has issued a wind advisory for the northern parts of the county and a high-wind warning for the Santa Ana mountains and foothills, Moker said.
Gusts up to 45 mph were recorded at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana at 11:30 a.m., Moker said. Gusts reached up to 40 mph at Cal State Fullerton between 11 a.m. and noon, he added.
KCAL9's Kai Goldberg warned the high wind advisory would settle down by early Saturday afternoon.
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