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.
“There’s lots of damage out there,” said Todd Meyers, West Penn Power spokesperson. “All of our line crews are out there and will continue working until later in the night. We’ll bring some overnight crews out as well.”
Meyers anticipated that it could take multiple days to restore the power. “It simply takes time to clear the trees and clear the debris. You can’t really respond until some of the worst of the weather is gone for safety reasons,” 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 “multiple trees and power lines down.”
“It’s not a good night in Washington County,” he said. “There’s multiple sections in town with no power. We’re in the midst of working through it.”
Greene and Fayette counties reported some small pockets of outages.
Meyers cautioned people to stay away from downed power lines.
“They’re going to be down in many spots, and we cannot tell if they’re energized,” he said. “They don’t 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.
“Stay at least a school bus-length away from any downed wires. Treat them as energized because they can injure you grievously or kill you.”
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