Power cut off to 140 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes because of landslide danger
On Sunday, Southern California Edison turned off the electricity to 140 houses in the Portuguese Bend community of Rancho Palos Verdes. This was done because ongoing ground movement had caused dangerous circumstances, which resulted in an evacuation alert being issued.
The inhabitants of the area, who had been without gas supply for many weeks, were dealt yet another blow.
“We must make that difficult decision to disconnect power indefinitely,” said David Eisenhauer, a spokeswoman for SoCal Edison. “The land movement there has created such a dangerous situation that we must make that decision.”
Unless it is absolutely necessary, we do not want to be in a position where we have to turn off the electricity. Because of this, it is imperative that we do so. We have a responsibility that is more than the provision of electric service, and that responsibility falls under the category of safety: the safety of the community as well as the safety of our teams.
In response to a question about when or if electricity may be restored to the households that were impacted, Eisenhauer refused to guess.
It was said by him that the circumstances are still developing. It is our responsibility to put safety first.
Due to the fact that the city has issued an evacuation alert for the area, residents are required to begin making preparations to evacuate immediately.
On the social media site X, the city issued a statement that said, “This is the time to leave if you have animals, children, or require additional time to evacuate at this time.” In the event that an evacuation order is issued, inhabitants are required to start leaving immediately.
“We will work with the Sheriff’s Department to go house to house and make sure that people who do remain do so in a safe manner,” said City Councilman Dave Bradley. “If and when we actually have to evacuate because it is difficult for our residents to be there,” he added.
In recent times, the movement of land in the region has been seen to continue at rates that have never been seen before: as much as one foot each week. Because of this, citizens, first responders, municipal authorities, and utility companies are facing a growing number of issues, as the damage to the infrastructure and the worries around safety continue to grow.
It was announced on Saturday that the electricity will be turned off to the residences that had lost power. It has been about a month since those people had their gas supply shut off, and they are the same population.
Mike Hong, a resident of Portuguese Bend, said on Saturday that he had just heard about the anticipated power outage an hour earlier.
According to Hong, who has been cooking using hot plates, which is an option that will be discontinued on Sunday, “They are giving us even less time than the gas company would give us.” Let us not be abandoned. What humanity is there in this situation?
Following the interruption of gas delivery, SoCal Edison had sent a warning to the locals that this was a possibility. Despite the fact that Eisenhauer said that this choice was taken to “keep the community safe,” he stated that there was not a single reason that led to this decision.
In the vicinity of Narcissa Drive in Portuguese Bend, a little fire broke out yesterday, on Thursday. Eisenhauer said that it began when a power line collapsed and ignited the grass in the surrounding area. Despite the fact that the fire was put out in a short amount of time, he said that the occurrence indicated the precarious nature of the situation.
Eisenhauer said, “Despite the fact that we are aware that Rancho Palos Verdes is going through a challenging period, we have been looking for ways to maintain the flow of power.” “At this point, land movement has created such a dangerous situation that we are forced to make the difficult decision to disconnect power indefinitely,” the statement of the organization said.
Eisenhauer said that there are no additional imminent plans to extend the power shut-off to neighboring areas that are also experiencing land movement. However, he did mention that the company is “monitoring constantly” the issue since it is a fluid scenario.
In his statement, he said that SoCal Edison would have a “community crew vehicle” in the area by Sunday, which will provide people with water and information. The ground in the majority of locations is not firm enough to put generators, according to him, which is why the utility does not provide generators.
Because power is essential for telecommunications lines, the sewage system, and the fleet of pumps that assist reduce continuous land movement by expelling the groundwater that geologists claim causes it, city authorities have said that the loss of electricity will create additional safety concerns. This is due to the fact that power is essential for these structures.
According to City Manager Ara Mihranian, the municipal government has placed portable generators that were purchased by the Portuguese Bend Community Association in order to provide electricity to the sewage lift system. This has allowed the community to maintain a functional sewer system.
Officials from California Water Service, the company that supplies water to the region, have said that they do not intend to stop providing their service; however, it is not yet apparent if this may have altered in the recent days.
According to Councilman Bradley, in order to effectively react to the slide, support from outside sources will be required.
“This is much larger than the city itself, and without assistance from our partners at the county, state, and federal level, we are unable to come up with real solutions to slow down the movement of land,” he added.
