Power Outage Shuts Down Stores, Gas Stations

Updated 6:22 p.m. Thursday

A power outage occurred around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, killing the juice for San Diego County, south Orange County and parts of Baja California.

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Several local businesses closed their doors early, including many gas stations who rely on electricity to pump gas.

Albertsons and Rite Aid on Coronado Avenue are closed, but CVS and Wallys in the Palm Promenade Shopping Center are open.

As word spread that power is expected to stay out overnight, more than 20 people were waiting in line shortly after 6 p.m. at CVS, where customers are being allowed in one or two at a time to make cash only purchases.

Some customers were seen buying large amounts of water and ice, while others came to buy medication, baby food or other supplies.

Trolley operation has also shut down.

"We're running bus shuttles for Trolley where we can from major transit centers," San Diego MTS tweeted.

California Highway Patrol recommends people remember that an intersection with stop lights no longer working should be treated as a stop sign.

The Imperial Beach Civic Center where the fire department and Sheriff's Department station operate still have power since they run on a generator. Sheriff patrols will be doubled and additional forces called in to assist in patrols this evening.

Shortly after the power outage, some traffic lights on Palm Avenue were out of order, impacting afternoon traffic.

Across the region Thursday temperatures have been in the high 80s on the coast, high 90s or above 100 inland and 110 in the desert.