The weekend rain- and windstorm that tore through Los Angeles County left over 8,000 residents without power last night — about half SoCal Edison customers and half L.A. DWP.

And according to City News Service, thousands are still in the dark this morning, mainly in the Mid-Wilshire area.

In response, L.A. has waxed typically dramatic about STORM WATCH 2012:

KTLA sent a reporter down to Hollywood Boulevard, where a straight-faced reporter interviewed grumpy tourists who forgot to pack anything other than shorts and skirts.

“This is not what I was expecting,” says one girl, shivering. “I didn't bring a jacket! I think I'm going to have to go into the GAP and get one.”

On one quiet street in Winnetka, residents told KTLA that a felled pine tree was “the most exciting thing they've seen on this street in years.”

A couple counties east, the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race was shut down due to the rain. “We weren't prepared with the ponchos and stuff,” one spectator griped to CBS LA.

In suburban Sherman Oaks, the Los Angeles Times notes that power at the Galleria mall went out five minutes into a screening of The Hunger Games.

The horrors! But topping all the chaos was the fact that thousands remained without power (or cable) throughout much-anticipated season premiere of Mad Men. Twitter has never been so swamped with white person problems:

A storm-screwed morning commute upped the grump factor when the Blue Line got behind schedule, and passengers had to be shuttled by bus between the Washington Station and Seventh Street Station downtown.

Kind of makes an Angeleno think twice on complaining about heat waves in January, no? And then we look to the west, and realize we live in the best place on Earth.

"After the storm cleared this evening, I walked to the beach and was reminded of this quote by John Muir: 'I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.'"; Credit: Stephen Lee Carr via Twitter

“After the storm cleared this evening, I walked to the beach and was reminded of this quote by John Muir: 'I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.'”; Credit: Stephen Lee Carr via Twitter

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