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POWER OUTAGES STRIKE THOUSANDS
mjones@observer-reporter.com
Winds ripped through Western Pennsylvania late Wednesday and early Thursday, toppling countless trees and causing widespread power outages that, in some cases, might last until the weekend.
While most of the region saw sustained wind speeds of about 30 miles per hour, the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh recorded a hurricane-force gust in West Alexander that reached 87 mph Wednesday night.
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Greene County 911 Center received several calls about downed trees and other wind damage. Most of the issues concerned trees falling into power lines, and the damage was spread throughout the county and sporadic, said Jeff Marshall, the county's director of emergency management.
"We basically had what you would expect to find after a wind storm," he said.
On Thursday afternoon, Allegheny Power reported numerous outages in the county affecting more than 3,000 customers. Most of the outages impacted fewer than 100 people, but the power company indicated that the most significant outages were in the Waynesburg, Carmichaels and New Freeport areas.
"It may be the biggest outage in our history," said Doug Colafella, spokesman for Alleghey Power.
At the height of the storm, Allegheny Power had 300,000 customers without power in Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. The company was able to restore power to about half of its customers by 3 p.m. Thursday, Colafella said.
Allegheny Power reported 97 cases of damage to power infrastructure in Greene County. Colafella said tackling each issue one-by-one was extremely time consuming. While most customers were expected to have their power restored within 24 to 36 hours, he said, some isolated customers could be without electricity for several days.
"I would anticipate in counties like Westmoreland and parts of Washington, this might be going on for a couple of days," Colafella said of the repairs. "This was a major event, and our folks are still out assessing the damage."
Some of the hardest hit areas were Washington with 4,000 outages, Ellsworth with 2,000 and Avella with 1,200. But no parts of Washington and Greene counties were spared from the high winds.
"The emergency crews were very busy through the evening," said Ron Sicchitano Jr., deputy director of Washington County's public safety department. "There was a lot of effort by the volunteers out there. I would not say we came through this unscathed. We did have some damage."
The wind ripped a metal roof off a Canonsburg home and tossed it onto nearby utility wires. That forced authorities to close Pike Street near Strabane Avenue as they worked to retrieve the debris from the lines.
In Chartiers Township, trees were reported down throughout the township. Police Chief James Horvath said a resident of Regent Street found a trampoline in her yard and has no idea who owns it. A shed blew apart on Thorne Street, damaging several vehicles.
A tennis court bubble at Peters Township's municipal center was deflated by the wind. Nearby, a sign for McMurray Town Center toppled partially onto one lane of East McMurray Road at Valley Brook Road.
The storm damaged a mobile home in West Finley Township, forcing four people from their residence. The American Red Cross is assisting the family and providing food.
Donegal Township police Chief Ethan Ward described the damage in his area as "pretty bad."
"It seems like every township road had a tree down on it," Ward said. "I've seen some damaged barns, but I have not seen any houses damaged besides some missing shingles."
Road crews in North Bethlehem had a busy night clearing trees and debris from township streets. They were able to open most roads and planned to concentrate on off-road debris later.
Even Wal-Mart at Trinity Point in South Strabane Township closed for several hours Thursday because of the power outage. Employees standing at the front doors had to inform an unending stream of customers that the store was not open because the loss of electricity spoiled food in its grocery department.
Chris Strager, a meteorologist with the weather service in Pittsburgh, said 36 counties in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland had "numerous" trees down and widespread damage.
Staff writer Jon Stevens contributed to this report.
Wind : 2/13/2009
TENNIS BUBBLE??? Is that really a priority??
WIND STORMS : 2/13/2009
DUDE: Nobody said that it was a "PRIORITY". Wise-up Dude.
