The news weather report said that Los Angeles was going to have hurricane force winds and they weren't kidding! When the wind started on Wednesday night, I was startled but I didn't get scared until the power went out. The wind got louder and so did the sound of branches falling in my front yard. It was pitch black outside. My nephew got some candles and we were hanging out in the living room. Everybody else in the house was asleep except for us and my friend Richard. It was his idea to have some drinks to calm down.
We started drinking and brought out acoustic guitars and hung out. My neighbor drove up and we went outside to help him move branches and other stuff junk that flew into his driveway. We had a couple of more drinks and then fell asleep. When I woke up, the power was still out. We called SC Edison and the power wasn't going to be up anytime soon. The good thing about the wind was that it blew all the smog away. We wanted to prepare in case we weren't going to have lights for the evening, so we tried to get some more candles and flashlights.
Trees knocked down everywhere. I thought the branches on my street were bad but trees had fallen; the wind tore them out of the ground (roots & all). Some street signs and the market sign by my house. Most stores in my area were closed.
I went to the 99cents store in Pasadena and everybody else probably had the same idea because the line was huge. In the store, the shelves where the candles were, were empty. They were out batteries, flashlights, matches, lighters, and candles. It was a bit chaotic but I'm glad that there wasn't major damage to my home. Our power went on later that night. There were some areas that didn't have power until today. It's good to have an emergency kit handy.
