Mistaken flash-flood warning sent in L.A. hours before polls close as storm batters Southern California
A tsunami of voter anxiety enveloped Los Angeles County on Tuesday night as a powerful storm bearing winds up to 100 miles an hour swept across coastal Southern California.
The National Weather Service predicted that the Santa Ana winds could gust to 100 mph in parts of the region.
The storm, fueled by a weak La Niña and a cold front over the region, pounded the beachfront communities of Malibu and Santa Monica on Monday. By then, thousands of coastal residents had already cast ballots by mail using a special election ballot system.
The system of poll workers trying to reach voters with those ballots created a bottleneck as they tried to turn voters away, resulting in long lines at some polling stations early Tuesday.
“It was extremely important that the state of California get its voters out,” said Assemblyman Patrick T. Kennedy (D-Richland), whose district includes some of the worst-hit communities as well as some of the best. “Without the extra resources that we had, this election is going to be a lot more difficult.”
A tsunami of voter anxiety enveloped Los Angeles County on Tuesday night as a powerful storm bearing winds up to 100 miles an hour swept across coastal Southern California.
The National Weather Service predicted that the Santa Ana winds could gust to 100 mph in parts of the region.
The storm, fueled by a weak La Niña and a cold front over the region, pounded the beachfront communities of Malibu and Santa Monica on Monday. By then, thousands of coastal residents had already cast ballots by mail using a special election ballot system.
The system of poll workers trying to reach voters with those ballots created a bottleneck as they tried to turn voters away, resulting in long lines at some polling stations early Tuesday.
“It was extremely important that the state of California get its voters out,” said Assemblyman Patrick T. Kennedy (D-Richland), whose district includes some of the worst-hit communities as well as some of the best. “Without the extra resources that we had, this election is going to be a lot more difficult.”
The election in California had been set to take place this year, but the Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, postponed it to allow time for