LADWP worker in intensive care after injury on the job

LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles Department of Water and Power worker is in intensive care after suffering an injury while working to restore power Saturday in the San Fernando Valley amid weather-related outages affecting thousands of people, the utility said Sunday.

"This accident and serious injury of our employee is a reminder that our line crews and other field personnel are truly unsung heroes who work in hazardous conditions risking their lives to keep the power flowing across our city," LADWP General Manager Martin Adams said. "The safety of our employees and customers is our highest priority, and we are praying that he makes a full recovery."

Crews have made major progress restoring power to thousands of customers following a winter storm that brought gusty winds, snow, and several inches of rain to the region.

Since Friday, LADWP crews have restored power to more than 98,000 customers. There are currently 49,000 customers out of LADWP’s 1.5 million electric customers who are still without power, according to officials.

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The time frame for crews to respond to an outage increased to 24-48 hours early Saturday, up from the previous 12-24 hours, when it became clear that continued wind and rain would result in additional outages even as crews continued to restore power.

"We want our customers who are without power to know that we are working as hard and safely as we can to get your power restored and we appreciate your patience," said Brian Wilbur, Senior Assistant General Manager – Power System. "High winds and heavy rain like we experienced can cause significant damage, but our crews continue to make steady and strong progress and will work around the clock until everyone is back on."

If you experience a power outage:

• Report it online at ladwp.com/outages, or by calling 1-800-DIAL-DWP (1-800-342-5397)
• Use a flashlight instead of candles, as a light source.
• Switch off all lights, except for one, so you will know when your power has been restored.
• Once your power is restored, it may require you to reset your circuit breaker for the lights to come back on.
• Keep your refrigerator closed to keep food cold.
• Check on vulnerable friends and neighbors to make sure they are safe.