By Gale Stoddard
At 12:49 p.m. Monday, the north general area of Buena Park was enveloped in total darkness until the wee hours of Tuesday morning when electricity was finally restored. The 800 operator from Southern California Edison informed all the residents that metallic balloons flying in the area hit some electric poles, causing the outage.
Some kept calling all day as they received ever-changing promises of service being restored at 3 p.m., then 6 p.m., maybe 9 p.m., final vow of 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Hallelujah, electricity came back before 4 a.m. Nobody could pinpoint the exact time as everyone was sleeping fitfully in the hot confines of their homes.
Last week, some Fullerton residents living in the State College/Chapman areas complained of another outage occurring by Cal State Fullerton. However, this time, the problem was resolved within eight hours. Monday’s catastrophe had Buena Park residents relying on candles and flashlights to get through with their much-needed chores. A lot of residents working at home in their internets were peeved at the interruption.
Residents with chronic pain needing their massage therapy treatments suffered in silence. Parents got a respite from the never-ending use of electronics by their children. Television and the computers got some rest. Finally peace prevailed at these homes as parents tried their best to finagle their way through the black maze in their homes. All had to endure the hothouse effect of disabled electric fans and air conditioners. Houses were in darkness and only a flicker of light could be seen from the streets as one meandered through these affected areas. It truly was an eerie sight as one drove on busy, lit-up businesses on Orangethorpe onto congested Valley View.
On the left side is the general area looking like a forlorn eerily dark vacuum. The La Palma tract on the right is all lit up and any driver can be easily confused at the comparison. Some residents that were affected expressed their disgust at the irresponsible actions of those who launched the metallic balloons. They should be penalized for this prank.
Hopefully there will be laws prohibiting their actions to alleviate any more discomfort and medical emergencies their actions might have taken.
Don’t they realize there are bedridden seniors who are using oxygen? Let’s put our heads together and act like adults in order to avoid any more recurrence of this incident.
Who knew how many lives were inconvenienced medically from this fiasco? We would still be in the dark, were it not for the amazing efforts of the Southern California Edison hardworking heroes who worked through the night to bring back the light to hundreds, maybe even thousands, of grateful residents. Commendation is in order for these men. And for those responsible, someone from above is watching.
