Community Corner

UPDATE: Lights Out: Massive Power Outage Strikes Cerritos, Artesia

Southern California Edison reports all services have been restored.

Updated at  8, 8:45 and 10 p.m. with power being restored at Los Cerritos Center and several businesses re-opening for Friday evening crowds.

An unplanned power outage struck several portions of the Southland Friday evening just after 6 p.m. Friday.

Equipment failure caused a power outage effecting 65,000 customers in Long Beach, Cerritos, La Mirada and other areas the utility reported. Full service was restored at around 8:40 p.m., according to Southern California Edison.

The outage was "a result of a catastrophic equipment failure at our Del Amo substation,'' said Maureen Brown of Southern California Edison.

According to Southern California Edison, the outage impacted 12,478 customers is Cerritos. Edison did not have a restoration time as of 7:20 p.m.

Nearby in Artesia, a total of 3,567 customers are being impacted by three other outages listed separately that began just after 6 p.m. as well. The cause of these outages is unknown, according to Edison, which estimates power will be restored by 8 p.m.

LOCAL TRAFFIC AND BUSINESSES AFFECTED BY THE OUTAGE

Street lights were out throughout both cities, causing significant traffic jams as people struggled to get through major intersections. Businesses throughout the community were also left in the dark. 

Power was restored to small sections of the city just after 7:30 p.m., including at Los Cerritos Center, which posted an update on its Facebook page.

"Hey local fans - power has been restored to Los Cerritos Center. We apologize that we were not able to provide real-time up-to-dates but thank you to locals like Cerritos-Artesia Patch for posting. Many of our stores are closed for the remainder of the evening, but we are still open along with Sears and Nordstrom Los Cerritos."

According to shopping mall officials, the Regal/UA Galaxy 11 at Los Cerritos Center along with restaurants California Pizza KitchenRed Robin Gourmet Burgers and Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar were re-opening for business.

By 8:45 p.m., power had been restored to nearly 25,000 customers, according to Edison.

—City News Service contributed to this report.

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TELL US IN THE COMMENTS: WERE YOU AFFECTED BY THE FRIDAY EVENING POWER OUTAGE? IF SO, WHERE WERE YOU LOCATED?





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