L.A. prepares cooling centers as extreme heat hits San Fernando Valley again

Prompted by an excessive heat warning, the city of Los Angeles will open and operate cooling centers through Wednesday evening, Mayor Karen Bass’ office announced on Monday, Sept. 30.

The National Weather Service issued excessive heat warnings from 11 a.m. Tuesday until 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, and other areas in Southern California.

The city has hundreds of free locations open for residents to find an escape from the heat, such as recreation and parks facilities and local library branches. For locations and hours of operation, visit https://www.laparks.org/reccenter and https://www.lapl.org/branches.

Cooling centers are accessible to people with disabilities. They also provide charging devices for phones and some medical equipment, as well as refrigerators for medication.

Starting Tuesday, five cooling centers will be available:

— Fred Roberts Recreation Center, 4700 Honduras St.;

— Mid Valley Senior Center, 8801 Kester Ave. in Panorama City;

— Sunland Senior Center, 8640 Fenwick St. in Sunland;

— Jim Gilliam Recreation Center, 4000 S. La Brea Ave; and

— Lincoln Heights Senior Center, 2323 Workman St.

The Mayor’s Office of Housing and Homelessness in coordination with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority began outreach with unhoused residents to provide them with hotel vouchers.

In Skid Row, three climate stations will be available for unhoused residents to grab cold beverages and sit in the shade, at the following:

— Towne Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, across the street from the ReFresh Spot;

— San Pedro Street, mid-block between Sixth and Seventh streets; and

— Fifth Street and Maple Avenue

The ReFresh Spot, located at 544 Towne Ave., is also open and provides the Skid Row community access to drinking water, restrooms, showers, and laundry facilities. The ReFresh Spot is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is open to anyone in the community, free of charge, according to Bass’ office.

L.A. public swimming pools will also be available for residents. Hours of operations can be found at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/f5e82fa14a5f4c2facf5b6c888880153.

The Department of Water and Power is prepared to work around the clock and meet customer demand. Crews are ready to respond to possible power outages, and additional staff are on standby. Power outages can be reported at www.ladwp.com/outages or by calling 1-800-DIAL-DWP (1-800-342-5397).

LADWP customers can sign up to receive outage alerts via text or email at www.ladwp.com/outagealert.

Temperatures are expected to cool down starting Thursday.