Windstorm in California Leaves Citizens With no Electricity

The toll from a firece California windstorm continued to mount Thursday as officials closed Griffith Park, workers struggled to restore power to 340,000 homes and some roads remained blocked by fallen trees.

Broken traffic lights snarled traffic across the region. Half of South Pasadena remained without water Thursday morning because an electrical pump from the city's reservoirs failed as part of a widespread power outage, authorities said.

The winds toppled trees on Christmas Tree Lane in Altadena, where for more than 80 years the deodars on Santa Rosa Avenue have been strung with 10,000 lights over the holiday season. The trees had been strung with lights Sunday in preparation for the big lighting ceremony Dec. 10, said Maureen Ward, president of the Christmas Tree Lane Assn.