Community Corner

Emergency Center in Los Alamitos Activated to Deal with Massive Power Outage

Officials are asking residents affected by power outages to limit phone use to emergencies.

The California Emergency Management Agency activated the Southern Region Emergency Operations Center located in Los Alamitos Thursday to provide assistance to southern Orange County, San Diego, Riverside and Imperial Counties – all of which have been impacted by today’s widespread power outages.

Located on the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, the Emergency Operations Center is activated during disasters and public emergencies. The massive power outage that affected 1.4 million customers in California, Arizona and Mexico starting Thursday has led to a spike in cell phone calls, overwhelming cell towers and creating the danger that 9-1-1 calls might not get through.

The California State Warning Center has contacted all County Warning Points and has confirmed all 911 lines are currently working. However, call volume is extremely heavy and cellular phone lines are currently overloaded.

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“It is essential that those impacted by today’s power outage limit cell and landline use to emergency calls only,” said Acting Secretary Mike Dayton. “This reduces congestion and allows emergency communication to flow quickly to ensure adequate response to those in need”.

For more information about this event, and emergency preparedness, visit http://www.calema.ca.gov.

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