Crews worked on Olympic Boulevard on Dec. 16 to repair a water main break that occurred two nights earlier. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

A water main break on Olympic Boulevard between Doheny and Wetherly drives plunged thousands of Beverly Hills residents into darkness for days, prompting extensive repairs and lane closures in the area. The break caused rampant flooding on nearby streets, which engulfed a Southern California Edison power substation with approximately 250,000 gallons of water, according to the city.

The water main break occurred at approximately 11 p.m. on Dec. 14. Witnesses reported water rising above the curb on streets in the area. All water services were restored by the night of Dec. 15.

“There was so much that it looked like there was a flood that came down from the hills or something,” said Terence O’Connell, a resident in the 300 block of South Doheny Drive. “It was wild.”

O’Connell said power was restored to his apartment within approximately 36 hours, and lauded the city and SCE for what he said was a prompt response.

“The fact that they got [power] back online so quickly, I think is pretty impressive,” O’Connell said. “I’m so blessed to live in this city. They do such a good job here.”

Several businesses along Olympic Boulevard were closed for at least one full day due to the outage. Signs reading “closed due to power outage” were visible at a nearby Starbucks, and employees at Jim Falk Lexus confirmed that the service center was still without power at 11 a.m. on Dec. 16.

“I share in the frustration with our residents and businesses,” Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian said in a statement as the outage continued on Dec. 16. “SCE is working underground around the clock to resolve the remaining power outages. The city is working diligently to keep the community safe and provide the necessary resources during this ongoing incident. We urge residents to get the latest information by signing up for emergency alerts at beverlyhills.org/emergency. For direct updates from SCE, please visit sce.com/outages.”

The Beverly Hills Police Department increased patrols and waived parking restrictions in the area amid the outage. Students from impacted schools were hosted at Roxbury Park. At a Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education meeting on Dec. 16, President Judy Manouchehri encouraged families with students affected by the outage to reach out to their school’s principals for assistance with educational needs impacted by a lack of electricity.

Power was intermittently restored to customers in the area, with all customers receiving power by approximately 2:40 p.m. on Dec. 16, SCE spokesperson Gabriella Ornelas confirmed.

In neighboring West Hollywood, the City Hall was without power on Dec. 16 and 17 due to an unrelated outage.

“The building previously experienced a power outage on Tuesday, December 16, and while power was briefly restored, another outage has since occurred,” West Hollywood Director of Communications Joshua Schare said. “The city of West Hollywood is working closely with Southern California Edison and an onsite team of electricians to determine when full power will be restored. Although building generators are operational, functionality within City Hall remains limited during power outages.”

West Hollywood City Hall remained closed on Dec. 17 and city services were provided through online platforms.