LOS ANGELES >> Utility crews were working through high winds and heavy rain tonight to restore service to approximately 78,200 Los Angeles Department of Water and Power customers without electricity.

Neighborhoods experiencing the highest number of outages as of 10 p.m. include 6,000 customers in East Hollywood, 4,400 in Green Meadows, 3,800 in Van Nuys, 3,600 in Mid-Wilshire, 3,500 in Koreatown, 3,400 in Del Rey, 3,200 in Larchmont and 3,000 in Reseda, according to Kimberly Hughes of the LADWP.

“Crews are working hard to restore power to all customers as quickly and safely as possible and will work around the clock until all customers have service restored,” Hughes said.

Complete restoration may take up to 24 hours, according to Hughes.

“Depending on whether heavy rains and wind continue and the conditions and complexity of repairs involved, restoration could take longer for some affected customers,” Hughes said. “This is the best estimate available at this time and we will update as we get additional information.”

The most frequent causes of power outages during heavy rain storms are downed trees, dried palm fronds, and tree branches from trees on both private and public property falling and making contact with power lines, Hughes said.

“This can result in extended outages as trees often need to be removed before our crews can begin restoration work,” Hughes said.

The department added crews in advance of the latest storm systems, Hughes said.

“LADWP urges all customers to use caution around downed or dangling power lines or poles,” Hughes said.

Anyone seeing a downed wire is asked to always assume it is live and refrain from touching it and to immediately call 911.

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