Update: 130 get power back in Thermal after severe thunderstorm

Update: 4:00 p.m. Saturday IID restored power to 136 customers in Thermal after Thursday night’s severe thunderstorm downed over a hundred power lines.

Power is back on for 34 customers in the area of Filmore St. between 74th Ave. to 77th Ave.

Power is also back on for 102 customers in the area of Pierce St. between 64th. to 61st Ave.

About 80 customers still are without power.

The Red Cross has set up a cooling center atDesert Mirage High School because of the extreme heat.

—-

The Imperial Irrigation District has restored power to most of the east valley after a severe thunderstorm downed multiple power lines Thursday night.

Officials said power was restored to customers in Thermal as of 7 a.m. Friday. There were only 250 customers still experiencing outages.

IID officials said a severe wind storm was determined to cause the power outages. If you continue to have problems with your power, check your main breaker first, and then report it to www.iid.com/outage.

The outage also affected Mecca, Desert Shores, Salton City, North Shore and North La Quinta. IID didn’t specify how many total customers were impacted by the outage.

Utility crews worked throughout the night to restore power to the east valley after the severe thunderstorm cell moved into the area around 8 p.m.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 surveyed the damage Friday morning, and more than 100 power poles were destroyed in the storm.

Pierce Street is closed from Avenue 64 to Avenue 66 and Avenue 70 near Fillmore Avenue was also closed in both directions due to downed power lines . A transformer also went down on 66th Avenue, officials said.

Only two people were reportedly injured during the storm; one had a broken leg and a woman was complaining of abdominal pain.

Power lines fell on top of a car with two people inside and one was taken to the hospital. Officials said a power pole also fell on top of a home on Avenue 70 and another house in the area lost its roof.

The Riverside County Fire Department held a new conference at 8 a.m. Friday at Desert Mirage High School in Thermal to talk about some of the damage and power outages in the east valley.

Desert Mirage High School was also acting as a cooling center throughout the day Friday for residents still dealing with power outages at their homes. Sunline Transit buses were being used to taxi people to the school, and also to provide air conditioning to crews working to repair the damaged lines.

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 will track the progress as IID crews continue to work in the area.

Over 100 power poles down after heavy wind storm