Incredibly high winds are battering Southern California as the Thanksgiving week starts, and the gusts are beginning to cause damage across the region.
Footage from Sky5 captured a massive tree that was blocking a large portion of Sand Canyon Road near Lost Canyon Road in Santa Clarita on Monday.
Los Angeles County Fire Department officials confirmed to KTLA that a call regarding downed power lines came in at 11:19 a.m., and responding firefighters found a 25-foot tree blocking lanes on Sand Canyon.
“This tree was found by a fire department that was responding to another call,” KTLA 5’s Rich Prickett said.
No injuries were reported.
Earlier on Monday, police responded to Main Street, U.S.A. in Disneyland just before 8:30 a.m. on reports of a lamp post that fell and injured three guests.
Strong winds caused the pole to topple over, Disneyland officials confirmed. The lamp post was located in the flowerbed around the Disneyland flag pole and is used for stage lighting during parades and shows along Main Street, U.S.A., according to the Orange County Register.
When Anaheim Fire and Rescue personnel responded, they found the downed pole and the three injured parkgoers.
One of the victims was transported to a local hospital with serious injuries, while the other two were treated and released at the scene.
The lamp post was cleared from the scene just after 10 a.m., and the park remains open.
Further south in Orange County, gusty winds sent a Torrey Pine tree crashing onto a house in Tustin, causing damage to the home’s garage and one of the homeowner’s cars.
“I heard something shake the whole house and it was loud as hell,” the homeowner, Phil Forney, told KTLA 5 Orange County Bureau Chief Chip Yost. “And when I looked out a particular window that gave me a view of the apex of the roof, I saw a pine tree where it never should be.”
In the Inland Empire, video taken by KTLA 5’s Shelby Nelson shows large dust clouds blowing onto the 15 Freeway near Eastvale.
In Los Angeles County, more than 5,500 residents have had their power preemptively shut off to minimize fire risk.
Several businesses in a shopping center in Calabasas were without power beginning Sunday, and one store owner told KTLA 5’s Jacqueline Sarkissian that the power may not be turned back on until tomorrow.
Winds are expected to die down by Wednesday, paving the way for a cool, clear Thanksgiving Day, the National Weather Service said.
