As Southern California was pounded heavy rain Tuesday, downed power lines prompted the closure of about 5 miles of Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades for more than six hours.
The closure was reported in the 17300 block of PCH at Sunset Boulevard (map) about 11 a.m. by the Los Angeles Fire Department, which said the power lines were dangling and burning across all lanes.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power crews responded and were working to restore power to about 400 customers affected by a resulting outage. Power was restored, DWP said on Twitter about 6:20 p.m.
The coastal roadway was closed from Temescal Canyon Road west to Topanga Canyon Boulevard, according to a Los Angeles Police Department spokesman.
PCH reopened at Topanga Canyon just before 5:30 p.m., according to tweets from the California Highway Patrol’s Southern Division.
Traffic was backed up for miles on either side of Topanga Canyon.
Farther to the northwest, the PCH had been closed since Sunday over a 9-mile stretch in Ventura County where rock fall came down during an earlier storm. It was not known when that more remote section would reopen.