'We Woke Up And It Was 42 Degrees In The House:' Several Still Without Power Following Winter Storms
By: Erika Stanish/KDKA-TV
WASHINGTON COUNTY (KDKA) - Downed trees, broken branches, and snow and ice built up on powerlines from severe winter weather this week have left thousands without power.
Several families in McDonald, Washington County told KDKA they've been without power since Thursday and have been trapped in their homes because of downed powerlines across their driveways.
"We woke up and it was 42 degrees in the house," Danielle Kasimirsky said.
She said powerlines have been dangling across their driveway for days, leaving her and her husband without a way out.
Kasimirsky said they called West Penn Power, 911, and police in hopes to get help.
"All we wanted was somebody to either tell us, you were safe in driving over these lines, they're dead and then we could have left our house or if somebody could cut these lines or something so that these families were able to get out. We're all stuck," Kasimirsky said.
"We did what everybody else did. We reported lines down and power out," Kasimirky said
"And what happened after that?" a KDKA reporter asked.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," Kasimirsky said.
Pam Staley said she lives next door and is also unable to get out of the driveway.
She said they had been relying on their fireplace for heat until Saturday when they got a small generator.
"It's very frustrating because I mean, as you can tell we're not the youngest, and being in a house at 42 degrees is no fun. It's not okay. You know?" Kasimirsky said.
"It's not healthy," George Kasimirsky said, Danielle's husband.
The Kasimirsky's said while they understand line workers are busy, they just want the powerlines removed from their driveway so they can get to and from their home freely.
"We would just love to be able to get into our house. Get our car and be able to you know function still," Kasimirsky said. "We would like to be warm too."
West Penn Power reported Saturday afternoon that it expects the majority of service to be restored by 11 p.m. Sunday.
If you are without power and have not reported your outage, go to firstenergycorp.com/outages or call 888-544-4877.
