Severe storm downs trees, knocks out power in region
A strong storm with wind gusts of up to 80 miles per hour moved through the region late Tuesday afternoon, downing trees and knocking out power to thousands of Washington County residents.
As of 6 p.m., West Penn Power reported 33,260 Washington County residents were among the 107,761 in Southwestern Pennsylvania without electricity, knocked out as wind brought down trees and power lines. Shingles and roofs were blown off homes, including at the Brehm Road, North Strabane Township home of Jonn and Karen Mansfield.
鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of damage out there,鈥� said Todd Meyers, West Penn Power spokesperson. 鈥淎ll of our line crews are out there and will continue working until later in the night. We鈥檒l bring some overnight crews out as well.鈥�
Meyers anticipated that it could take multiple days to restore the power. 鈥淚t simply takes time to clear the trees and clear the debris. You can鈥檛 really respond until some of the worst of the weather is gone for safety reasons,鈥� he said.
Washington Mayor JoJo Burgess said there were some portions of the city without power.
Tom Hartley, California fire chief, said the borough had 鈥渕ultiple trees and power lines down.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 not a good night in Washington County,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 multiple sections in town with no power. We鈥檙e in the midst of working through it.鈥�
Greene and Fayette counties reported some small pockets of outages.
Meyers cautioned people to stay away from downed power lines.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to be down in many spots, and we cannot tell if they鈥檙e energized,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have to be sparking or making noise; they could be completely inert. If you see wires, call 911 or call us at 1-888-lights and we can try to get out there.
鈥淪tay at least a school bus-length away from any downed wires. Treat them as energized because they can injure you grievously or kill you.鈥�
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