Topline
The entire city of San Fernando, California, temporarily lost power Monday morning, city officials announced online, as the remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary blasted southern California and Mexico.
A vehicle makes its way through a flooded street in a suburban area of the San Fernando Valley in … [+]
Key Facts
At 11:30 a.m. Pacific time, the official city government social media pages said: “The entire City of San Fernando is experiencing a power outage. Southern California Edison is working on restoring power,” adding that the city expected power to return around 1 p.m.
At 2 p.m. PT, the city announced that power had been restored.
San Fernando sits about 25 miles north of Los Angeles and has a population of just under 24,000.
Key Background
The power outage came as the region was hit by intense rains and flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary, which became the first tropical storm to hit California in over 80 years on Sunday. The storm put Los Angeles and much of the surrounding region under a flash flood warning into Monday morning. Los Angeles Unified School District, the second-largest school district in the U.S., and San Diego Unified School District announced all of its schools were closed Monday, citing “downed power lines and impassable roads” throughout the region. As of Monday morning, one person had been confirmed dead as a result of the storm.
Tangent
Prior to making landfall in Mexico’s Baja California and traveling north into California, Hilary had been downgraded multiple times from a Category 4 hurricane. While hurricanes and tropical storms are common on the U.S. eastern seaboard with the Atlantic, they are incredibly rare on the Pacific west coast due to cold offshore waters that suppress the strength of the storms, compared to the historically warmer waters in the Atlantic that create environmental conditions more conducive to hurricane formation.
Big Number
Nearly 40,000. That’s how many homes and businesses across California were without power as of early Monday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.us.
Further Reading
Tropical Storm Hilary: Los Angeles Under Flash Flood Warning As Heavy Rainfall Hits Southern California (Forbes)
Here’s Just How Rare West Coast Hurricanes—Like Hilary—Really Are (Forbes)
Tropical Storm Hilary Crosses Into Southern California As Los Angeles Braces For Flooding (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/willskipworth/2023/08/21/entire-california-city-loses-power-during-hilary/