Pacific Palisades Power Outage Brings Neighborhood Together

It was a strange day in Pacific Palisades when suddenly the lights went out and the small community . 

The LA Department of Water and Power distribution building at Sunset and Via de la Paz had an explosion, or at least that’s what some people heard.  The cause is still unknown, said officials.  Maybe the DWP building was working extra hard during our recent torrential rainstorm or maybe the city was overdue on its electric bill, who knows.

My parents were visiting at my home in the Asilomar Bluffs area, perfect timing as usual. Around 11:00 am on Saturday morning my mom came in the room and said the TV was not working.  I tried telling her that it worked fine and that she wasn’t holding the remote properly.  Lo and behold when I went to turn the TV on, it wasn’t working and then I realized all the power was out in my entire home. 

Walking over to my neighbor Judy Welch’s home, I noticed she was outside in her front yard on her phone.  She was talking to her hairdresser in town, who said “don’t come in our power is out.” 

As lunch time approached my family and I were getting hungry.  We had planned to go out but instead I called Gelson’s to see if they had power.  They had a backup, so we could purchase things, just not in the deli.  We settled on Ronny’s because they had power.  I got to Ronny’s just in time, but after picking up our food, the power went out there, too. And with no cash register, he had to close his doors.

After lunch I decided to head for Norris Hardware to purchase a battery lantern.  Thankfully, they had one left. 

I felt prepared for the night if the power was still out.  I decided this would be the perfect time to take a walk to the bluffs with my dog Lulu and I was right. Around 20 other people had the same idea and had taken their dogs, too.  Neighbors gathered at the Asilomar Bluffs in the cool air, rehashing stories about present and past.

Susan Harper Yates singing to the tune of “Riders on a Storm” made her own version of the Doors song, something called “Palisades in Crisis.” 

“I was walking on Sunset and Swarthmore and heard a big bang crash noise, like you never heard before,” said Allison Arms. “Starbuck’s doors were locked up.”

Scott Rabushin was upset because the March Madness Basketball Playoffs were going on and he couldn’t watch.

Another Palisadian named Chris, who lives in the Alphabet Streets, said he heard a big crash, and it brought back memories of when he was a kid and his dad told him War stories about bomb explosions in Europe.
 
Neighbor Margaret Hennessy said she was headed out to the valley when she saw the traffic nightmare on Sunset Boulevard. She turned around to go back home.  It took her ten minutes to go a few blocks.
 
“When the lights went out, we went for a walk and I met a new neighbor, who was riding her bike with her daughter . . . She was telling me that she was grading papers and then had to stop, and decided to go for a bike ride.” Marianne Jarc said.

Jarc mentioned that she had a small generator purchased from Osh that could last about 9 hours if she needed heat.

One neighbor on Asilomar has a large generator for any emergencies that may come up.  Obviously not everyone can have their own generator but they can buy a crank/solar power radio and lantern.  Dick Wulliger is extra prepared— he even has a life raft in his car trunk, ready to go. 

Also, pets may get nervous, so some pet owners may want to have a few tranquilizers on hand for an unexpected event. 

It’s never too soon to start your emergency awareness kit. Norris Hardware advises people to ensure their batteries are up to date.  All batteries have expiration dates.  Also, have a flashlight in every room. Norris sold out on lanterns due to the power outage so check with them first to see if they’ve restocked. If using candles, never leave them alone because they can cause an accidental fire.

At approximately 3:00pm, Susan Harper Yates yelled from her home to the crowd that the lights were back on.  We all cheered in unison.  But I was having so much fun I stayed until the sunset on the bluffs.

Palisades, we should do this more often, but with the lights on.