Gusty conditions made quite a mess for areas like Thermal, Palm Desert and Palm Springs, causing issues for homeowners and drivers all weekend long. Some of those issues included downed tress, road closures, and power outages.
Since then, crews all over the valley have been picking up the pieces.
In Palm Springs, dust and gusty conditions stirred up sand, shutting down three major roadways because of poor visibility. East Vista Chino, Gene Autry, and Indian Canyon were all shut down on Sunday. All of them have since opened up expect for Indian Canyon, which remained closed on Monday.
Workers could be seen replacing broken signs, and setting up a barrier to prevent drivers from going through.
Several flights in and out of PSP were also either cancelled or delayed.
And in Palm Desert, downed trees were a problem. Crews spent days clearing limbs and leaves from roadways. They even had to pull a car out from underneath a tree that had toppled over.
In the east valley, the Thermal community experienced several power outages caused by damaged power lines.
The Imperial Irrigation District sent News Channel Three a statement on their efforts to restore power:
"High winds Saturday afternoon had Imperial Irrigation District crews hard at work restoring power to areas of the Coachella Valley. In total, IID reported 21 downed distribution poles, causing scattered power outages in the Coachella Valley service area. While most of the power outages affected small numbers of customers, in one case, 10 distribution power poles went down in the Thermal area, affecting about 300 customers. Eight of the poles have been replaced. In all cases, IID worked to restore power quickly with 99 percent of all customers restored as of mid-day Sunday. Power to two businesses was back on as of 8:30 a.m. Monday."
Robert D. Schettler, APR, Public Information Officer
Because strong winds are common in the valley, officials are now asking residents to take steps to prevent further damage and debris. That includes thing like keeping up with regular tree trimming, and picking up fallen palm fronds around their homes.
