'Heat storm' triggers power outages across SoCal

LOS ANGELES - 71-year-old Michael Thomas just got home from the hospital. He slipped and fell... hurt himself. 

But, when he got home, his place in Sherman Oaks was like an oven. 

"I didn't know that I was going to be coming home to this. No air conditioning. No electricity," Thomas said.

He said it was hot, uncomfortable and so dark, especially at night. 

"We're using lanterns. We're using flashlights," his son Jason said.

The power went two days ago and since then, Michael's son and his sister have been house-sitting while dad has been hospitalized. 

"With all the home burglaries and stuff like that we want to make sure somebody's here at the house," Jason said.

In the kitchen, the refrigerator is almost empty. They had to throw out lots of spoiled food and some refrigerated medicine. And, no air conditioning!

Some neighbors have gone to hotels. Others have gone and stayed with families. The heat… just unbearable.

LADWP has on its website a place customers can file claims for losses during this heat.

"We have restored 71,000 customers since the start of the storm," officials said.

That's what David Hanson with LADWP calls this - a heat storm.

"Right now with the high temperatures maintaining for several days this time of the year and for it not to cool down in the evening... that's the issue," he said.

Hanson says power equipment can run overloaded if necessary but still has to have a chance to cool down and reset overnight.

And, as crews fix things like blown-out transformers... that's what happened here... electrical workers try to get things fixed, and they have to deal with the heat too.

Electrical worker Ryan Devins is on one of 20 subcontractor crews hired by DWP to help the regular army of electrical workers during this storm.

"A lot of them are working 16-hour shifts with only an 8-hour break during which time they have to drive home, drive back (or) find a place to camp out and then right back to another 16-hour shift..." Hanson said. 

It's all to help people like Michael Thomas get through the storm… the heat storm.