Rancho Palos Verdes power shut-offs: City provides updates

good morning uh my name is ARA Moran I am ranchel Palace verce city manager I want to thank the media first and foremost for for being here and actually for all your coverage that you have provided uh the city on this this serious and fast moving um situation and crisis that we're we're navigating I think the media you have been um there and and helping raise the awareness on this very uh serious matter that the city's been experiencing I'm going to hand it over to the translator so I'd like to um I don't know if okay there we go I'd like to thank our our guests that are here this evening or this afternoon excuse me we've got council member Barbara Ferraro with Rancho Palace verce um we've got supervisor Janice Han with the fourth district we have uh Sheriff Luna here this afternoon or this morning um we've got Chief here with LA County Fire Department we have um Larry uh Larry Chung with Southern California um Edison we have Michael McGee with Los Angeles County sanitation district and we have Ralph Felix with with calwater uh District so before I hand it over to supervisor Han to give remarks what I'd like to do is just give you a context from the city's perspective of what is happening um today as you know in less than an hour Southern California Edison will be de-energizing power to the Portuguese Ben community and Association that um has come after much much thought and careful consideration regarding the Public's safety um as as of yesterday the city issued uh an evacuation warning that evacuation warning was a direct result of environmental health LA County Environmental Health uh concern that was expressed to the city regarding the sewers s sewer system in that particular neighborhood that system is energized by uh uh Power from Southern California Edison the city is a customer of Southern California Edison it energizes our SE sewer system it energizes our dewatering wells which help manage the uh the the landslide and and the water that in the ground it also provides uh telecommunication facilities and Southern California Edison is very much aware of it when LA County public environmental health mentioned to us that our sewer system will go offline when the power is shut off that raised a concern regarding a potential sewer spill if people continue to use their water facilities as a result of that the city did issue that evacuation warning since that time and that was issued around 300 p.m. yesterday afternoon the city in partnership with the residents of the Portuguese Ben Community Association and I have to underscore how resilient our community is and and the um the the partnership and the collaboration that transpired at the late hour yesterday we were able as of uh this morning to uh provide backup generators at four lift stations or actually three lift stations which enable the sewer system to continue to operate while uh the power is being shut off in light of that the city is going to continue to maintain the evacuation warning we think it's important that residents continue to be prepared we have been saying that since the city declared a local disaster back in October of 2023 the community needs to be prepared because this is a this is an everchanging crisis as we navigate through this and we need to be prepared that is the only way we can stay safe and prevent any um property loss and worse human loss so with that I would like to then hand uh my remarks over to supervisor Han but I believe the translator probably wants to translate what I just said as best as you can yes res lar CH electric Southern California Edison yes KX of course yes um sorry everybody anything good morning everyone I am Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Han and uh ranchel Palace birdies is one of the 30 two cities that I represent uh On The Board of Supervisors I want to first thank everyone who has stepped up and worked quickly particularly over these last few weeks and especially over the last few days uh to sort through this extreme challenge facing this community I think we're all learning that there is no playbook for an emergency like this one we don't have a stepbystep guide to follow but what we do know is that many families are struggling are suffering are feeling great anxiety about what is happening they are watching their homes they're watching their streets crumble around them uh we do know that school has started and I understand there's about 40 students uh that have been that will be impacted by this power shut off you know over the past few weeks the County family has mobilized to do everything in our power to help my office along with our County Office of Emergency Management our Public Works our County Fire Department our County Sheriff's Department have been working hand inand with our partners here in the city of Rancho Palace veres and with the utility companies to make sure that the residents here are not only safe but they're able to make sense of what's going on and to plan as much as possible their own path forward I've been in close contact with Mayor John Crookshank who has been a champion for his residence through this entire crisis making sure that we all know what is going on he doesn't hesitate to call me at any hour of the day or night asking for specific help from the County of Los Angeles want to thank our fire chief Tony Mor our Sheriff uh Robert Luna our director of Public Works Mark pastella and Kevin McGowan our director of office of emergency management as well as all their teams uh for working sometimes around the clock for this community and my office has specifically asked our Sheriff's Department to increase patrols of this area and Captain Guero of the L station has assured us that her deputies will be keeping a close eye on any evacuated properties and we also have our internal Services Department we're asking them uh for help and they are remaining on standby uh for any additional help with generators if the city needs them we're sparing no expense because a crisis of this magnitude is not something any City should face on their own and I think that's the message you're going to keep hearing from City officials this is bigger than Rancho Palace veres th this land movement is so gigantic and so damaging that one city or one homeowners organization should not have to bear this burden alone uh which is why the county stands ready I've committed an additional five million doar uh to the city to respond to this disaster I think originally that money was going to be used for a uh draining project but not sure if even that project is now uh big enough to handle this and uh maybe you want to use those funds in another way to respond to this disaster uh but you know we also continue to call on Governor Nome uh to come to the city and see this for himself I think if he came here and saw the buckling streets the buildings sinking and cracking apart and now 140 families may be forced to leave their homes because it's unsafe for them to have the basic services that we all depend on power gas sewer lines uh I I think he would understand the urgency of this request and yes this Landslide has been moving for decades but the acceleration that's happening currently is beyond what any of us uh could have foretold and it demands more response from the state more response from the federal government I do understand that his office the governor's office of emergency management is going to uh try to Wrangle some FEMA uh folks to maybe come here and also see what they can do to help it's a crisis and it's getting worse by day and an emergency declaration by the state I think would unlock some critical financial assistance for the residents uh who live here in the meantime there's going to be an emergency assistance center here at the Lera Linda community center which opens today and our County departments uh will be here to provide assistance to their residents most of us can't imagine what it's like to be warned to leave your home because because the land under your feet is Shifting that's devastating for these families and this is far from over but we will be here the County of Los Angeles will be here 247 to make sure that these residents have every tool they need to navigate this crisis and we want them to know that they're not going to go through this alone thank you [Music] for for [Music] our next speaker I'd like to introduce Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna well uh good morning uh before I start off with just some highlighted comments uh I do look at the residents here and uh I I I don't even know what to say other than we're here to support you in any which way we can and I know as as we continue to move forward uh every tough decision that we have to make uh I can guarantee we're not just doing it uh if it's something we have to do uh it is uh based on your safety uh uh lives which I hope it never comes to that but I can tell you this that your city uh every time we've talked to your officials they are representing all of you uh and the your voices so just please uh know that for sure uh the LA County Sheriff's Department the men and women of the LA County Sheriff's Department have been very uh engaged in this uh for months now uh they've been doing uh as good as we can uh interacting doing the job that we need to do and we will continue to do that uh as we move forward uh so our role in this is to uh be at the table uh with our office of emergency management and uh Kevin maowen who I've been talking to a whole lot especially the last 48 hours is is out here so I'd like to thank him and all of the members of the office of emergency management with all the hard work they're doing and we're communicating listening to all the Departments uh and infrastructure uh groups that are involved here whether it's Edison uh the gas company uh sewage and water and we're paying very close attention uh to what do we believe is going to happen next and the supervisor said at best The Playbook isn't as uh black and white as uh other incidences or events that we deal with uh so it is evolving and it is fluid but for us uh uh working with the city uh with the evacu evacuation warning uh and then always um there ready for that to turn to an order uh and we'll make sure that we do everything to work with all of our partners with the residents uh to make sure that we're working together communicating and coordinating but if I can stress anything uh to our residents um please be ready to evacuate I hope it doesn't come down to that but you've got to be ready at a minute's notice make sure you have the proper paperwork medications uh that you just have a plan to communicate uh and if if and when that order comes you please be ready to to roll with that right now it's a warning uh the warning is to be ready uh and we'll do that as well now in regards to a significant concern uh as residents may be leaving as a result of this warning uh and or an appending order please be assured that uh our department is going to do everything we can to make sure these properties are safe uh we have had issues in the past uh not only will we add additional resources uh to uh this area uh but this morning I did authorize uh the use of uh drone usage uh for this specific area we only do that under uh circumstances where emergencies are occurring and we approve that so when you look up in the sky uh there's going to be an extra eye up there and my next message is for anybody out there because I'm looking at the cameras now that is even thinking about coming to this area uh to impact it in a negative way if you think you're going to come here and further negatively impact the residents of this area you've got something else coming to you uh these deputies are awesome at the work they do uh they are ready uh to arrest you you're going to go to jail if you come here to steal anything do not think about it don't even go there uh that's that's very important factor uh as we move forward and for any of you who think or you're hearing something or you see something out of uh that's suspicious please let our deputies know uh and I really do want to give a huge hand to Captain Kim Guerrero who is the captain of the Lomita station that covers this area she's been doing a great job and she will continue uh to do so uh so with that uh I am going to turn it over to our next uh I'm sorry uh there's a translator who's going to translate for me and for all the Spanish stations I will do Spanish stuff for you guys right at the end thank you sorry for or for I'm not sure what you said but if you were able to repeat what what the the sheriff has said you're pretty remarkable so and I I do want to I want to thank uh Sheriff Luna and and Captain Guerrero who has been they've been remarkable and and ensuring me the city council and the residents of rancha pal ferus that they will be safe under these unprecedented uh conditions so thank you very much for your commitment and having that presence both on the ground and in the air cuz we if you're looking to um come here and and cause any disruption don't even think about it as the sheriff said because you will not get away with it um our our next speaker is with Los Angeles County Fire Department I'd like to introduce Chief Mor I'll move up just a little bit so good morning uh my name is Anthony I'm the fire chief of the County of Los Angeles Fire Department uh the first thing I'd like to do is is thank supervisor Han for allowing the fire department to be here with our County family um as we share uh with the impacted residents the fire department's plan for emergency response following the necessary electrical shut off today at noon let me just State once again the necessary electrical shut off from a public safety standpoint Southern California Edison is doing the right thing because our number one priority is not only resident and Community safety but also the safety of our First Responders and I implore all of the residents to please heed the evacuation warning that has been issued by the LA County Sheriff's department and get ready for a potential evacuation order if it is necessary that would affect the Portuguese Bend Community Association neighborhood I recognize how difficult and overwhelming this devastating and continuing land movement has been for the residents of the ranchel palace veres community over the past year our primary objective Ive at the fire department is to ensure the continued safety for all residents the shifting roadways continue to impact and increase response times and in some cases make access impossible additionally due to the recent sewage spill and the fire near narcissus drive that damaged electrical equipment power is being shut off to ensure public safety to keep up with the rapid pace of land movement that's been occurring since 1956 which is moving 88 times faster than it was in October of 2022 and the increased Wildfire risk due to the potential of a utility pole or electrical lines coming down the County of Los Angeles Fire Department has done three things we we've at the request of supervisor Han we've added daily jurisdictional surveys for personnel assigned to fire station 53 in RPV to ensure Public Safety access is possible we've added a four-wheel drive Patrol to the area to make sure that we can get in if someone has a fire or a medical emergency if access is not possible fire station Personnel will make necessary notifications and try to mitigate issues to ensure that Public Safety access is maintained the surveys also include the patrol of the area and any additional equipment needed will be requested to maintain the safety of residents the community and our First Responders in addition to the patrol that was requested by supervisor Han we've also added a 2, gallon water tank a water tender uh which can respond to the area in case the water supply is damaged or broken we know that this movement can also um disrupt not only the natural gas which previously had to be shut off but also the electrical the sewage and the water we've worked collaboratively with the city of ranchel Palace birdies to negotiate with the York estate to utilize the York driveway off of Palace Rish Drive South to provide a faster way into the community if you suffer a medical emergency while the power is out and you have difficulty calling 911 we want to make sure that we can get there as quickly as possible because during a medical emergency minutes are going to matter and that is one reason why we're asking everybody to be prepared for an evacuation order if it were to come and then uh with the evacuation warning in effect for the Portuguese Ben Community I encourage all residents to use the know your Zone evacuation tool the know your Zone evacuation tool is critical to the evacuation process if there is a wildfire or emergency such as an uncontrolled uncontrollable land movement navigating the know your zone map provides timely critical information and can help you determine next steps I want to assure the residents that acting assistant fire chief Brian Kane and I uh will continue to collaborate with supervisor Han City officials our Public Safety partners and the utility companies to ensure the safety of the residents the community and our First Responders thank you what the for for inst and and chief and and to Chief uh Caine thank you um the city is very grateful and appreciative of all the added resources that you brought to our community and all the constant communication it's greatly appreciated we we feel a lot safer knowing that we have those added um resources at station 53 which is right down the street so our next uh speaker is from Southern California Edison the vice president of customer engagement division Larry Chung who I had the pleasure to meet just like a couple days ago and we've been talking consistently since Wednesday and I appreciate everything that you've your transparency and all your Partnerships so thank you Larry thanks very much uh as AR I mentioned my name is Larry Chung I'm the vice president of uh se's customer engagement division uh I I really want to just start by saying that Southern California Edison recognizes just how devastating it's been for many of the City's community members uh as the land moves at this unprecedented Pace in some areas up to a foot per week uh I myself have have been in the Portuguese uh Ben community and I've seen even small things like the road changing from even yesterday so we we understand how Dynamic the situation is and I do want to thank uh supervisor Janice H for her leadership I can assure you uh she's been in contact with with our company and and fighting for the residents of not just Ranch pal Verdes but the entire County of Los Angeles so I want to say thank you to supervisor Han for pushing us to be better and making sure that we're looking at every possible option for this community and and for what Chief and Sheriff Luna are doing as well as our maranian with the city uh it's been a collaboration it is unprecedented uh and as you've heard before there is no playbook for this uh you know Edison never wants to turn off the power to a customer unless it's absolutely necessary and as you've heard from the previous speakers in this case it is absolutely necessary we have an obligation not only to serve but a higher obligation to ensure the safety of our community of our customers of the residents here in the RPV area and the land movement in the Portuguese Ben Community has created such a dangerous situation uh that we have made the very difficult DEC decision to disconnect power indefinitely to prevent that equipment from igniting Wildfire you've heard an example of this danger uh just a few days ago on August 29th the fire that occurred near narissa Drive the land movement caused a power line to fall to the ground and ignite a small fire uh while the fire was quickly extinguished I want to thank again Chief and your Crews for for doing that uh it shows that the mitigation measures we have currently in place are not sufficient to address the dynamic nature of this land movement so that is why uh We've made the decision to disconnect service in the Portuguese Ben Community Association as I mentioned our highest obligation is the safety of our community and the safety of our residents that doesn't mean that we're not doing everything possible to mitigate this in fact we're closely monitoring the land movement uh as a participant of the RPV land slide complex working group uh with the city and other First Responders we're maintaining regular communication and collaboration with the entities speaking here today uh and we're going to stay in touch with our customers uh we understand how much of a hardship this is and we care about our community we care about our customers the land movement situation here in the palis veres peninsula remains Dynamic uh if the company must shut off power to more customers uh that is something that we're going to have to make a decision to do and we're going to make the be do our best to to provide as much notification as possible and as can be done safely recognizing the dynamic nature of this particular emergency um so with that I I I want to reiterate again our commitment to safety our commitment to the community and that this decision was not taken lightly it's something that we've considered greatly in partnership with a lot of the public service agencies uh and entities including the city so that thank you very much can you just say and spell your name please sure Larry Chung l a r r y c h u n g and your title vice president presid of customer engagement division with Southern California [Music] Edison for I'd like to introduce our next speaker which is Los Angeles County Sanitation District public information officer Michael uh MI uh good morning everyone I'm going to ask the translator to join me up here our information's a little bit Technical and we want to make sure everybody understands clearly and concisely what we're about to um communicate so I will allow the translator to follow me immediately um but the LA County sanitation districts again my name is Michael chi c he I'm the public information officer for LA County sanitation districts the sanitation districts along with everyone here acknowledges the extraordinary and difficult situation we are all facing our agency is as concerned as everyone here about what the future holds and we sympathize with those lives that are being so dramatically impacted at this time I'd like to take this opportunity to educate and explain how the water and sour system in this area works so everyone understands Because the actual system of sewers and Sewer lines in this area can be very very [Music] confusing here in the Rancho Palace veres area residential and business lines from homes and buildings that connect to local seore lines those lines can can be operated and maintained either by the city or our friends at LA County Public Works all Wastewater that travels through these local lines makes its way to the LA County sanitation District's my agency's main trunk lines that transport all the waste water from homes and businesses in this region out of this area and down to one of our wastewater treatment plants where it is safely and appropriately processed to keep things simple it's easier to note that all water that is flushed down a toilet goes down a sink shower bathtub or washing machine drain ends up in our trunk lines to be taken out of palis veres we maintain Wastewater flow and structural Integrity of those pipes it was one of these pipes which is made of 14in diameter steel that pulled apart last week 6 ft below ground at the intersection of Narcissa and palis fer Drive South resulting in a small spill [Music] fortunately our construction Crews responded to and repaired that damage quickly and the resulting release of waste water caused no significant health risks or damage but that's a small preview of hopefully something we don't see in this area our Wastewater flow moves using good old gravity with some assist distance from mechanical pumping stations along its path to help keep Wastewater moving over Rises and other areas where gravity cannot do the job our pipes are not pressurized but our pump stations do require power to keep Wastewater moving normally this is a process no one sees or cares about and most of us take for granted but waste water is Flowing constantly even as we stand here and speak I need to be very clear and direct Ellie County sanitation is in no better position to predict when and where our pipes may break or be compromised due to the due to the dynamic land Movement we are all seeing the ground here is moving everywhere at the surface and below ground as demonstrated by our current emergency repair Work Land last week's spill incident we are dealing with incomprehensible amounts of Earth with unimaginable movement pulling our infrastructure in ways that it is not designed or intended to move or resist this level of dynamic activity if the sanitation district sewer lines W suffer a catastrophic failure there will be no notice our agency cannot say there is a zero chance of this happening if it does our job job will be to immediately activate our emergency response plan which is posted on our homepage for anyone to see on our website that address is LSD Sam is in Sam S is in Sam uh LSD csd.org if such an event should happen there will be an immediate and dramatic need for larger pumper vacuum trucks to Fan out and travel across palis veres to capture and transport Wastewater to the nearest working portions of our sewer lines so to emphasize this would be a physical capture and transport process conducted by large tanker trucks that will need to run 24 hours a day 7 days a week in the event of a catastrophic failure so just as residents have been warned for the need to possibly evacuate this is our warning concerning what would happen in the event of a catastrophic failure this will create traffic issues and delays in this region the details about what roads were likely to be impacted are posted on our web page at the site I gave you lacsd.org along with the map of the residential areas that will be impacted [Music] so waste water is Flowing now it continues to flow our sewer system remains in operation and our crews are doing everything including working emergency work to make sure those sewers continue to flow but this is a lot of waste water moving through the system when it's working properly and something most of us don't even think about when water goes down the drain but Wastewater does not magically disappear it travels somewhere and ends up somewhere waste water follows the rules of simple physics if it cannot get to where it should go safely which is what it is doing now it will accumulate at low points or get backed up and as a result may result in sewage releases and flows where no one wants them sanitation districts is and will continue to work closely with County and City staff and their resources to communicate and keep this community informed but we implore all residents and businesses to be ready and responsive to minimizing impacts to Public Health and the environment if we should encounter such a catastrophic event in the future we hope not to reach such a moment but we must be ready to face it [Music] thank you Michael and just to reiterate um the city's sewer system that's in the Portuguese band Community Association connects directly to the LA County sanitation district and when environmental health informed us of the concern that if our sewer system was inoperable there could be a potential health risk because of the backflows and possible sewer spills so we appreciate that continued collaboration and the communication the sanitation District's been by our side for for a long time and helping us navigate and monitoring the situation our next speaker is with calwater District it's Ralph Felix with with the Rancher Dominguez District so thank you uh good morning my name is Ralph Felix uh district manager California Water Service Company Rancho Dingus District first and foremost I want you to know that California Water Service management and employees are focused on our customers in the Portuguese bent area during this very difficult and challenging time like other utilities we have been responding to this emergency around the clock for many months and we remain committed to supporting our customers in the neighborhood the land movement in the area continues to cause our water Ms and services to separate or deflect causing leaks and we have been repairing leaks as they occur and will continue to do so based on the present circumstances we expect to continue Water Service to the community both residents in their homes and for fire protection our water system fa facilities that serve Portuguese bench are in a separate electrical grid as we continue to provide service we have Leak Detection technology and Crews who remain in the area 24 hours a day 7 days a week to identify and address leaks quickly the above ground water mains have been installed in certain areas are helping to reduce the instances of main leaks caused by the land Movement we will continue to monitor the situation closely in coordination with our community and Utility Partners and will provide updates to our customers as needed thank you [Music] [Music] so we're near the end of uh the remarks and then opening it up for a Q&A but before I do that I've got two council members here council member Dave Bradley and Barbara Ferraro and I want to invite you up if you like to say any remarks hello I'm Barbara Ferrero council member of rancha poos veres and no one ever thought we'd have to have a meeting like this I appreciate all of you coming we're doing our absolute best for our residents I want to thank our staff especially um ARA is the city manager who should get a medal for all that he's done I mean after all we're here on Labor Day weekend but also our staff the members of our staff are here as well and we want to do everything we can to help our residents this is unprecedented no one knows really in a way what to do and so I thank all of you for being here we thank our staff for being here and for um our let's see now um the people that have spoken um our chief our um our chief our sheriff and Janice yes um we have great supporters but we need your help as well to help the people get through this thank you all for coming well it's almost good afternoon uh I'm Dave Bradley one of the other City councilmen here in the city of Rancho Palace FES I do thank everybody for coming out um and in this really difficult time and thank you for paying attention to our small City uh here on the coast um this is and continues to be an existential crisis for the city of Rancho Palace veres um we have the most active landslide in North America um and we need to come up with real solutions to help both our current residents and also the landslide as much as possible I mean our hearts go out to our neighbors our friends and our residents here within the city that have been directly affected both in Portuguese bend the beach club as well as C viw right behind us um these type of movements is really unprecedented uh and we really need to come together to come up with real solutions on how we're going to solve this we've talked a lot about today about the current crisis and the de-energizing and of the power system within Portuguese Bend but we have been working on long-term solutions for actually over a year now to try to come up with ways to the landslide um I really call on everyone to come together to help us uh both at the federal level we need FEMA we need the US um Army Corps of Engineers to come help us at the state level we need uh California office of emergency um Kow uh Services uh to come help us uh we need help from the county which uh supervisor Han has continued to offer up but we need everybody to come together we need funds now to help both our residents that have been directly affected today as well as to help us get the water out of the landslide area and really start to the movement um as most people know within the local area and outside the area probably not that we are repaving palis for East Drive South almost on a weekly basis now the movement has accelerated dramatically over the last 12 months where some areas are moving up to 10 in a week if you can imagine uh 10 Ines a week you can almost see the ground move anybody that drove along palis ver Drive South this morning to get here or is going to leave uh please look at that road that is the most active repaving road that you will ever see we almost do it as we start repaving one end and by the time we get to the other end we're paying our contractor to start repaving again this is being becoming a major line item in the city's budget and the dewatering wells that we're trying to install and continue to act um to Monitor and to uh facilitate becomes one of the major funding s or funding priorities within the city so we ask at Federal the state the county level for help um we are in an existential crisis we need to help our residents for uh that have been affected now and we need to come up with real solutions to help mitigate this in the future to allow our residents to get back into their homes allow the uh folks to continue to uh live and Thrive within the city of Rancho palis veres I thank everybody for coming out today I thank all of our um our folks from our utilities as well as uh uh Sheriff Luna and um Chief Moroni uh for coming out and paying attention to our small city um hopefully in the future we can have them back out here for a more positive press conference on things that go right as opposed to once again things that are really kind of going south and going uh uh in the wrong direction but thank you all for coming out and last last but not least I do want to thank supervisor Han um for your your responsiveness and your attention to this this matter um since since the beginning thank you and a huge shout out to U Mark pestrella with with Public Works Kevin McGowen I I think Kevin I'm on the phone with you constantly and I really appreciate your guidance with LA County OEM um I I could attest that LA county is in in good hands knowing that you're there to respond to an any emergency whether it's a landslide earthquake fire so thank you for your guidance um and i' i' I'd be remissed if I didn't thank the RPV staff um we're we're a midsize City but a small City Hall I've got um 70 plus uh full-time staff and and an executive team of just a handful of players and we have been working around the clock and that's because we stand United with our community with the residents we feel very strongly uh about the the quality of life our residents experience and live in rancha Palace Veris and I want to say this very loud and clear to the residents of rancha Palace Veris remember we are resilient we are RPV together and that togetherness will get us through this crisis so thank you for coming out I'm going to open it up for Q&A what I'd like to do is please um Direct your question I'll stand up here direct your question to the individual you'd like to speak to and I'll call that person up so yes hi Emily um so what if residents don't want to leave or they can't afford to leave they still have toes while all this is happening I can see how some people may not be able to go rent an apartment while they're still having to pay for their morgage understood there is a there's a huge financial burden that is put on Resident because of this as they're watching um the damage occur to their structures I want to re reiterate what I said at the very beginning of my remarks um the city evacuation is at a warning at this point no one's being ordered to leave their their properties so we are we are advising residents that they should continue to be prepared in the event they have to leave what if they com to the point they do have to and I can't so we are at we are we had advised residents to uh contact their insurance companies because many times when there is an evacuation warning or order um their insurance policies may be able to cover that but they should they every insurance policy is very specific so they should they should reach out to their individual agent to get some more information on that and as far as a city what plans do you have in place to come in and and assist if there are any loopholes that can't be met in an emergency so so the the question is what is the city doing the city has been preparing for um any potential situations such as what what's happening now with the power being shut off we have been uh doing contingency planning we have worked with our local Partners our our Tera UCLA South Bay uh uh the Salvation Army as well as local hotels in the South Bay we started that conversation almost a year ago we have a list of available accommodations at a discount rate those uh we asking residents to go to the city's website and there's information on the city's website under the land movement page or to contact us directly and we will put them in connection with those accommodations there was only two Hotel on it it it we're it's a Labor Day weekend so we we don't have all the accommodations available and because the orders are not in place we uh we are still adding to that list based on the conversations that occurred back in October so when when when time I know you you had your hand up and then we'll go you please for Edison may I ask you a question please at the mic thank you no Edison Edison $ at the res in the second part of the terano they reduce the price to $350 per night so just so we're clear on that the two options are currently available at this time yeah I know that and that's something I I think I was talking to Kevin mcgau about one of the things that the county has done in the past I don't know if it would be enough for uh all the residents but I don't think all the residents are going to need to be uh put somewhere else but I know we negotiated before with uh Airbnb uh and found when the pear tree homes uh fell over the clip I know we were involved in negotiating with them so I think we're all looking at that UCLA campus uh the dorms I think we're all looking at all of that because again what a financial burden uh this is on the resident particularly with continuing to pay your mortgages Hal yeah I wanted to ask uh Mr Chung uh at the mic please uh the question I have several I have several questions one for for just numbers are we talking about 130 or 140 homes uh we are now at 1210 I assume that the power has now been shut off and do you see a scenario in which that power could be turned back on again okay I'm going to try and take all of those uh I believe it's 140 uh homes it's 193 meters uh with 140 unique homes uh regarding the uh situation of whether or not power can be restored uh you know we have our teams I think in conjunction with all of our uh Public Safety agencies working around the clock to figure out engineering Solutions I think you've heard the term uh no playbook for this this is an unprecedented uh situation that we're dealing with with and the thing about uh particular electrical infrastructure is that it has to be uh rooted in Solid Ground And so when we see 10 Ines to a foot movement on a weekly basis you heard them talking about re literally repaving as they're done with one end uh that presents a very unique engineering challenge to reenergize infrastructure in a way that's safe and because that is the main concern uh it's difficult to ascertain when we're going to be able to re-energize if we're going to be able to reenergize have you turned it off it's past noon uh Selena is saying yes yes yeah it has been yeah it has been shut off yeah so there's no gas no electricity there is water and is that going to be turned off and I mean I don't know how someone could live in a home with no gas water so so there there are alternative um sources that people can turn to and the community when when the gas was shut off they turned to propane um um heat heat pumps to provide gas or or water heaters and and in terms of water you heard from uh Ralph Felix uh when he spoke that they coww water is committed to staying in in the city so and the other thing is the sanitation and the sewer and we are able to keep the sewer operating with the generators that are in place so ter Spectrum news about those generators it's my understanding I was uh up there this morning talking with president that they were able to procure those generators and they installing them themselves so why is the city not taking so let me clarify so yes so the question is that the the residents are installing and procuring the generators so yesterday when I when I attended the neighborhood meeting uh the residents we we formed a committee and through that committee there were some we devised a plan they they actually picked up three generators and the city hired the electrician and we're doing the installation we're working with them we're partnered with them and we're we're long term we're looking at using uh battery generators but this is just uh to to fill the Gap we're doing it in stages here so there's a there's there's a partnership that we're working with them and they stepped up and they said we can do this we can turn this around before noon I said okay let's do this let's make it happen and we did and I I wanted to add another comment to the resident talk about Teran you know one of the things and I spoke about resilience of the community and the togetherness um the these are some of the hotels and see the accommodations but I've been in a day with emails from residents that when they got word of this um Power shut off they have been offering their homes in the Lera Linda neighborhood the The Monaco neighborhood the Mediterranean neighborhood the Clipper neighbor people are people are coming out and helping their neighbors out and so and and people are saying if if you need temporary accommodations we can work with you we are compiling a list it's it's very fast moving um in terms of what how to respond to this this shut off we will make that list available we're not going to post people's addresses but we will we will connect to you if you need a place to go to the other thing in term of terms of the generators one of the things that the residents need to do so um the three uh generators that we got that are being installed now or have been installed and are operating the sewer system that um is separate from what certain residents they if they're on a grinder pump which if they're lower than and they're not gravity flow they need to have a generator to keep their their uh sewer system their their sanitary system working we're working with that I can't underscore the importance of mutual Aid in this situation I think you heard everyone speak about the resources that are coming and you heard uh council member Bradley uh ask for for at the f Federal the state and the county level we continue to ask for Mutual Aid the residents need individual assistance the city needs Public Assistance we really need a caes and and FEMA and all the branches and levels of government to come in and help us out um as as supervisor Han said this is this is much bigger than Ranch of Palace verce we we tried to navigate through this at the very beginning when we started to see The Accelerated land movement but we're not shy in asking for Mutual Aid and I really do app appreciate the supervisor and and all the different departments in LA county um stepping up and we do have an emergency assistance center that's opened up it's opened at 11 uh 11:00 a.m. this morning it's going to be here we've got different departments from LA County the city here to help U navigate U the residents through this process getting the proper permits they need for their generators and the Declaration of emergency from the governor would help orchestrate some yes we we have we have we have put in um two requests the city council will likely hold a special meeting on Tuesday um to uh declare another state of emergency in light of the power shut off two questions some presidents spoken with say that the notice came so slow why now why not additional warning like just 24 hours today we're going to shut off power so you can address that or address I I will invite uh Larry to to answer that but uh I the the city received short notice as well and and we immediately responded to it but we worked and collaborated with SE on the messaging but I'll hand that to Larry of those the notice is dependent on theer the fire last week and the yeah so I think uh as as ARA mentioned we have been in constant communication with the city in terms of the 24-hour notice uh you know we did send actually a notice on the 30th of July a little over a month ago uh hoping that that would prepare residents and give enough time to uh look into measures like potentially generators or batteries uh the 24 specifically uh yes the fire was absolutely a factor in that but I I want to emphasize that it is a factor as you've heard everyone here mention really it's this unprecedented natural natural disaster that we're dealing with so the ground movement is really the the concern here and the fire certainly was exacerbated by that so we did have a down power line uh in an area I would that was not designated uh as sort of in the concern area so that's actually even more concerning and so uh that's why the 24-hour notice was given uh we did provide notice uh to the city and they they reacted quickly to make sure that the necessary resources were in place you heard the supervisor talk about uh the county resources the city resources we also at Edison have our community crew vehicle uh positioned uh today through Thursday as well if residents have more questions or need more resources you can also go to sc.com RPV if you need more answers to that but I wanted to make sure I address your question about the 24 hour specifically yeah only monitor this one Community or all across Ranch Palace ver not all across Ranch of Palace verus we the city has been monitoring the land movement of the overall Portuguese B Landslide complex since 2000 well since the city Incorporated in 1973 if you don't know the history of this Landslide it it's an ancient landslide that goes back thousands of years it was activated in 1956 when kensaw Boulevard was being extended to Palace verce Drive South the city Incorporated in 1973 and since then we've been dealing with this Landslide and we have been using GPS monitoring points since 2007 so we have data on on the movement that on the city's website that you that is available to the public to look go back to 2007 and see the different um uh reports or data on those monitoring points you don't then foresee expansion of this uh this evacuation warning to other neighborh so the the Portuguese Ben Landslide complex it's comprised of a very specific geologic composition it's very specific in terms of the boundary limits the city geologist has has has said repeatedly and assured the community and the city and the city council that there are no indications that beyond the boundary lines and and we have a map on the city's website that that identifies the boundary limits that they do not see that the lands movement will go beyond those boundary limits and at this point the land movement that's being monitored is approximately 680 um square miles or acre I'm sorry 680 Acres which is approximately one square mile so this is a manmade problem no it's not it's a natural problem it goes back thousands of years ago as an Portuguese Ben ancient Landslide it activated the landslide but it's an ancient landslide that goes back thousands of years any other questions if notal city the city continues to to ask for uh Mutual aid for assistance we continue to declare local emergencies in response to each and specific incident so we continue to ask we we're we're we're hoping and and I hope this message goes up to Sacramento that we do need help we need it now uh we need it more so than ever individuals need help there's questions about the financial burden individuals are experiencing I know these people I've known these people for many years they need need help we're you know many people think this is a community a wealthy community many people have lived in their homes for a long time and and they're they're they're on fixed incomes they do need help the city needs help as council member Bradley and council member Ferraro said we are we are plowing through our resources as we navigate through this crisis and respond to this crisis yes ma'am I Rel so the the question is is there any progress on the uh Communications and the coordination with Tesla on battery packs we do continue to talk to we had a we had a meeting with them Friday afternoon we continue to talk to a variety of companies out there on battery packs so that we can energize um the the community in the event uh or now that that power has been shut off so we are looking at that in fact what we're trying to do is the generators that we're using now to power the sewer system the city sewer system we're hoping that we could we could transfer that to a battery um powered generator any timeline I don't have a timeline but we're hoping in the next couple weeks uh is is is well at least for the sewer system okay that's good and then another question so residents had had mention and they they did say they did oh the question is um was there any reports or is there any documentation of the reports that were made back in November regarding uh the power pole in in the in the lower Abalone Cove area and so residents had mentioned that yesterday and we're looking we're looking into that and and I should clarify that the the incident the the the the spot fire that occurred on Thursday was was on the seaward side of Palace verus Drive South over by the beach School in the Abalone Cove Reserve it's was not yeah it was near the it was near the intersection of PV Drive South and Narcissa but it was not on Narcissa I guess the point is need to think about more about understood any any other questions if not we're available for for questions I'll take I'll take two more questionss yes yes Nick we we we we are aware of of the incident and ago went all under my driveway is making my home seek one foot a week when is this going to be resolved yes Nick we we have I've received your emails we're looking we're working with LA County Public Works don't know what's going so next question yes I haven't got an answer here I I will speak to you separately as I said I like you to speak to the Press so they know what's going on we're we're we're aware we are aware of your your um your your um situation where you're your home is right on on a fissure that that's and the sewer and all the infrastructure there is being damaged and you haven't done anything so we are working with LA County Public Works to respond to that we'll see yes sir so that I can get a better understanding when you say that the state has been asked and that you've made requests are you able to be a little more specific and indicate who has been asked when and what has been the response if any from whom so the the last declaration that was uh declared by the city council went to uh the governor's office via Cal OES and that was in response to the shut off of the gas to 135 properties and the ask is for individual and public assistance and we have not received a response yet for that request so we're just being ignored at this particular juncture we we continue to ask and we continue to reach out to LA um to Cales and we understand that there's there's um a meeting scheduled in the next couple weeks and you know just let you know I have personally reached out uh to the governor as uh recently it's yesterday we all do appreciate your saying abolutely you know I I really think uh I don't know if being ignored is the right uh assessment but uh I passed on the message that it feels like it feels like to these residents that they are being not ignored but maybe not understanding the enorm ity of this land movement uh you know I keep thinking if this was an earthquake and it happened quickly or if it was a fire or a flash flood I feel like uh we might have gotten a different response but now to think that we could have potentially 140 people uh who might need to be evacuated that's right now what's what's next week uh it it Rises to the level in my opinion of uh FEMA help and certainly the state of California uh which is why I think until you see it for yourself until you walk your streets your neighborhoods you drive on this road people just cannot fathom uh the enormity of of this massive movement of land which is prompted Addison to uh you know think about the public safety which the gas company said this is not safe anymore uh our uh LA County sanitation district is out here you've seen their trucks they're out here every single day monitoring I mean if they were to move those lines it would be you know uh about a billion dollars but I think we should ask for that I think that's the kind of money I think needs to to come to this area it's bigger than just your your neighborhood or your homes or your city this is a massive crisis which uh doesn't feel like it's getting the kind of attention that you uh deserve uh as being a a resident of the great state of California so we're going to we're going to call this a wrap we've been standing for an hour and a half we're we'll be around to answer any questions thank you for coming out this morning slash afternoon