West San Gabriel Valley- Dec. 2, 2011 - 10 a.m.- Thousands of local residents are still without power after An early morning windstorm struck  West San Gabriel Valley on Thursday, Dec. 1

The 100 mile-per-hour winds  knocked down hundreds of trees and power lines. Many public facilities, including some schools, were closed for the day.

Winds caused havoc throughout the West San Gabriel Valley. Foothill communities ranging from Pasadena east were among the worst affected by the wind storm in the San Gabriel Valley. Throughout the area falling tree branches snapped power lines causing power outages. Rosemead's Christmast Tree lighting Ceremony was cancelled because a second night of windy conditions was predicted.

Despite predicitions, the wind storm eased up on Thursday night, to the relief of homeowners and emergency crews.

ROSEMEAD

Jeff Allred, City manager of Rosemead, reported that city hall on Valley Boulevard was operating on emergency generator power this morning until regular power is restored by Southern California Edison. Several other public facilities including community centers were without power. One community center remained open despite the lack of power to serve box lunches to seniors citizens.

SAN GABRIEL

City of San Gabriel declcared a local state of emergency and opened its Emergency Operation Center on Thursday morning because of fallen trees and power lines and damage to structures. The San Gabriel Unified School District closed campuses on Thursday and Friday.

A large 70-foot eucalyptus tree fell at San Gabriel Mission cemetery, breaking a crucifix memorial to the Tonga Indians and Claretian priests.

MONTEREY PARK

Elias Saykali, Monterey Park Public Works director, said scores of trees and power lines were down in the city, but no major power outages were reported. City hall was open as were most city facilities.

Monterey Park Fire officials said they had responded to more than 50 calls regarding downed treesof which three damaged cars.  Meanwhile, Monterey Park Fighters were busy helping other cities that were more severely impacted by the storm. No injuries were reported.

Monterey Park firefighters provided assistance to the city of San Marino, where more than 200 trees were downed by the wind. Assistance was also provided to Pasadena where four structure fires were brought under control.

Alhambra Unified School District cancelled classes for both Thursday and Friday.  However, Garvey School District schools remained open.

TEMPLE CITY

In the neighboring areas, Temple City and Pasadena declared state of emergency. According to one press report, nearly 75% of residents of Temple City were without power this morning.  Some areas of the city will not have power restored until sometime this weekend because of the large number of downed power lines and trees.

Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Mall and Santa Anita Park were closed Thursday because of the storm. Many power outages were also reported in Montebello.