Blackout's Weekend Effect

Thursday's massive power outage triggered panic among event organizers for the weekend, leaving some to make changes while others postponed their plans all together.

Only making matters worse Saturday was the blackoutโ€™s second biggest effect on San Diego.

Some San Diego-area beaches were closed after 1.9 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Pacific. The sewage made its way there after a water pumping station failure, according to officials.

A few beaches will be closed at least until Saturday, officials said Friday.

Affected areas include all beaches north of Scripps Pier through Del Mar, Solana Beach and into the Cardiff area of Encinitas, according to the city's website.

That's bad news for events like the "Surf Dog-a-Thon".

"We thought we'd survived when the power came back on [Thursday] night," said event organizer Beth Chee, "but when we got in this morning we learned about the sewage spill and there's no way we can hold our event on Sunday."

The event attracts thousands and raises money for the Helen Woodward Animal Center, but Chee said the current situation just isn't safe enough for the dogs or people coming to watch.

As the outage continues affecting the lives of residents in San Diego, locals and people across the nation prepare for a day of remembrance over the weekend as the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks takes place on Sunday.

โ€œThe blackout wasnโ€™t a reason not to have our event,โ€ said Heather Dugdale, organizer of the 2011 Poway Patriotic Parade Chair which honors men and women who enlisted in the armed forces after 9/11 as well as other war veterans.

Dugdale said nearly two thousand participants were scheduled for the parade and she anticipated a crowd of more than four thousand people, even after the outage.

โ€œWe had some issues earlier in the week planning and had to use text messages to get to everyone,โ€ said Dugdale, โ€œbut in the end it was important to us that we held this memorial.โ€
 

For a more information on 9/11 memorial events in San Diego, please refer to this list.

Contact Us