Heat wave knocks out power to thousands of Southern California homes

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Southern Californians were trying to beat the heat this weekend, but power outages throughout the region were making that a more difficult task.

The heat was affecting electrical equipment as utilities scrambled to dispatch crews.

That left many thousands of people without working air conditioning or refrigeration during one of the hottest days of the year.

Nick Rosado, who lost power for 24 hours at his Mission Hills home, had to keep his expensive medication on ice.

"That one month supply - that's $1,300 out of my pocket," he said.

Thousands in the San Fernando Valley alone lost power in this heat wave. Some were forced to spend the night at a hotel.

"I mean our neighbors' house got to over 100 degrees indoors," said Charissa Clark of Mission Hills. "It was 115 outdoors and that was at almost 8 p.m."

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews were working as quickly as they could, restoring power to some 50,000 customers. But the wait can be miserable.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez didn't have power overnight either.

"In this heat, even a couple of hours feels like an eternity," Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez reminded people to alert DWP if their power goes out because outages sometimes go unreported. For crews to prioritize where they respond, they need to know how many people are impacted.

City leaders also suggest you look for ways to reduce power consumption to lower demand on the grid. Set your thermostat at 76 or higher, unplug appliances and postpone tasks such as laundry during the hottest times of the day.