Power outages affect thousands in Downey and nearby cities on Christmas Eve

Several neighborhoods in Downey, Norwalk and other LA County cities were experiencing power and water pressure issues on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24 after an equipment failure at a Southern California Edison substation.

Water repair crews responded to investigate, and Southern California Edison is assessing the power grid, the Downey Police Department said in a statement Tuesday afternoon.

Police said the department has been inundated with calls regarding the power issues. Residents do not need to report the power and water issues to police.

Businesses on Firestone Boulevard, including the Stonewood Center, lost power, according to a Southern California News Group reporter. Some residents are also experiencing a data service outage in the area.

The Metro C train line was down between Norwalk and Willowbrook/Rosa Parks because of the power outage. Buses were brought in to move passengers instead, the transit agency said.

Southern California Edison didn’t provide a timeline for when they expect power to be restored for all customers, but Jeff Monford, a spokesman for the utility, said it has been restored for the majority of customers.

The SCE outage page said crews were addressing outages in Whittier, Paramount and Downey. In all, 25,221 customers in LA County were without power as of around 3:15 p.m.

“We know that every outage is a real hardship,” Monford said, “and SCE crews members are working to restore power as quickly as they can with safety in mind as the biggest priority.”