Tree Falls on Powerline, Causes Power Outage in EP Saturday Night

Update:  Residents say power came on at about 5 a.m. Sunday.

Earlier: Many Echo Park residents spent much of Saturday evening in the dark, wondering if they could blame the wind this time.

Turns out the answer is "maybe."

Some time before 8 p.m. a tree broken in half and fell on a number of power lines, shorting out normal deliveries of electrical energy.

The tree was located just north of Duane Street on Echo Park Avenue.

Much of Echo Park along Echo Park Avenue above was affected.

At least a dozen LADWP workers were on the scene just before eleven in the evening.

They shut down Echo Park Avenue from Effie Street north.

They had switched off power to the lines in the affected area.

A workers was up on a lift cutting off pieces of the offending tree.

The next step, said workers, would be to turn the power in the lines back on.

Workers said it would take two to three hours to get things back to normal.

The LADWP said that as of 9 p.m. Saturday just about 1,000 people remained without power.

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That number had been as high as 55,500 across the Northeast and East Los Angeles after high winds hit the area early Thursday morning.

The LADWP is asking people who still don't have power--while their neighbors do--to text the message "off @ladwp" to 84469. They may also call (800) 342-5397.