Thousands without power after Western Pennsylvania hit by storms and tornado warning
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Thousands were without power after strong storms blew through the Pittsburgh area on Wednesday evening, prompting a tornado warning.
Duquesne Light, which covers Allegheny and Beaver counties, said in an update on Thursday that about 28,000 customers lost power. Less than 3,000 customers are still without power, which is expected to be restored by 10 a.m. on Friday, with many outages getting fixed sooner.
First Energy also had thousands of customers without power, with Westmoreland and Washington counties hit the hardest. As of Thursday afternoon, power has mostly been restored to those customers.
A tornado warning was briefly issued for parts of Allegheny and Westmoreland counties around 5 p.m. but eventually expired. The National Weather Service's Pittsburgh office said it plans to send a survey crew out on Thursday to look for damage and see if they can confirm touchdown.
Reports about downed trees came in all night on Wednesday. The Moon Township Volunteer Fire Company posted a photo on social media of a tree that took down power lines on Marshall Drive. In Sewickley, first responders were called to Beaver Street after a large tree limb knocked power out to several blocks of homes.
In Shaler Township, a tree fell on a house, though no one was injured. Neighbors said they heard heavy winds and came outside to see the tree on the home.
"It was like a swirling wind around the house," neighbor Dan Reilly said. "It wasn't long-lasting."
"We've always worried about that tree coming down," neighbor Tonya Reilly added.
Dispatchers also report widespread wind damage across Murrysville, Penn Hills and North Huntingdon.
The storms came ahead of a cold front and forecasted snow. Temperatures will be dropping across the Pittsburgh area, and the NWS issued a winter storm warning for parts of Westmoreland, Fayette, Preston and Tucker counties from 1 p.m. Thursday until 7 a.m. Saturday.
