L.A. County remains dry, most of Southern California avoids Northern California storm system
By LIZ REINER
April 13, 2013
Tens of thousands of people remain without power after a Nor’easter that swept through California overnight.
Los Angeles County remained the region’s hardest hit.
At least 13 deaths were reported Monday in the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. One man was reported missing, and several dozen homes and businesses were damaged, as were several bridges and roads.
Los Angeles County received more than 7,000 power-related calls between Wednesday morning and Saturday morning, according to Southern California Edison Co.
That compares to the more than 8,600 that Los Angeles Fire officials responded to from Wednesday night through Friday morning, according to Chief Ralph Terrazas.
The latest death was reported in the San Fernando Valley early Monday, Terrazas said.
More than 50 people were believed dead late Sunday night in the hills of the San Gabriel Mountains, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Kevin McQueen.
At least six homes, including one in the Canyon Lake neighborhood, were destroyed, and at least two people were reported missing, McQueen said.
The National Weather Service said a cold wave began Thursday to spread into the Valley and the San Gabriel Mountains, with rain and snow being likely through Tuesday night, creating “potentially dangerous driving conditions,” according to a statement by the weather service.
Sandy, which began April 10, has left more than 1.5 million people without power.
The Nor’easter system, which began in the Pacific Ocean and moved through California, brought blizzard conditions, mudslides and fallen trees. Officials are advising those living in the path of the storm to avoid contact with the storm.
More than 3 million homes were without power in Southern California and 1.7 million in Northern California as of 4 p.m. local time Monday.
Some 50,000 people in Southern California remained without power late Monday, a day after the largest such outage in the region’s history and as authorities warned of more outages.
“I’ll never forget the sound of the wind … and the fear that is so overwhelming,” said Jocelyn T. Hines, 62, of Glendora, who said the storm’s power shut off just as