Duquesne Light Working Round The Clock To Restore Power To Thousands Of Families
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Power is still out for thousands of customers after severe weather ripped through the area Thursday night.
Duquesne Light said during the height of the storm more than 40,000 customers were without power.
Come Friday, crews were able to restore service for over 30,000 customers. More than 2,000 remain in the dark as of 9:45 p.m. on Friday.
"It is widespread. I have to say this has not been an isolated storm," said Hollie Geitner, Communications Director of Duquesne Light.
This afternoon, hundreds of Duquesne Light crews were on the street accessing damage from the storm.
WATCH: KDKA's Shelby Cassesse Has More On The Storms
"We have crews working 16-hour shifts," said Geitner.
The storm showed the worst of itself in areas like Lawrenceville, South Hills, Shaler and Plum.
Boyce Park was closed Friday afternoon as dozens of down trees scattered the grass.
On New Texas Road, KDKA spotted a snapped utility pole swaying in the wind as it hung by the wires.
Down the road on Briarwood Lane, a couple cleaned debris from their neighbor's lawn while they were away at work.
"The wind was really heavy then all of a sudden we saw that branch come down across the road," Kevin Weigold, who was clearing piles of tree branches with his wife Linda.
The couple was without power since early Friday morning.
"There's no cell service down here either, so we can't even make calls or anything," said Weigold.
Duquesne Light encourages customers that help is coming. They have crews working 24/7 to restore service.
"We know this a challenging time: we're in the middle of a pandemic, people are working from home and so this is our number one priority," said Geitner.
