Storm tears through the Desert Southwest damaging power lines

Crews from CalTrans and IID continue to repair the damage from Tuesday’s storm - 13 On Your Side's Vince Ybarra reports

CALIPATRIA, Calif. (KECY, KYMA) - Tuesday’s storm wreaked havoc on the Desert Southwest, tearing down power lines, forcing crews to work around the clock. 

West of Calipatria, Imperial Irrigation District (IID) seen power lines down due to the storm, leaving up to 6,500 without power for a few hours, according to IID.

The storm has forced IID to declare a state of emergency with the state. Declaring an emergency is to help financially with repairs.  

IID had crews assessing damage on Tuesday night during the storm but they didn’t work on the downed poles until Wednesday, making sure they keep crews safe. 

“We did have some of our trouble shooters out there patrolling the area trying to already begin the assessment of the damage,” said Antonio Ortega, Governmental Affairs Officer for IID. 

CalTrans Acting Chief, Division of Maintenance, Shawn Rizzutto, said a crew stationed on Ogilby Road between State Route 78 and Interstate 8 will be working around the clock. 

“We’re working 24 hours a day, and we will be working seven days a week to get the road back open and fully functional,“ said Rizzutto. 

He said that area that is being repaired was not equipped for the amount of water that fell Tuesday evening. Rizzutto said the storm damaged the road as well, needing to be repaved but CalTrans will have Ogilby Road partially open by the end of the day. 

The hope for both IID and CalTrans crews to have repairs complete by early next week.