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E-mailWinds up to 50 mph whip up havoc
Windy city
James Knox/Tribune-Review
Waves on the Ohio
James Knox/Tribune-Review
Wind gusts between 45 and 50 mph were recorded throughout the region yesterday morning, said Pat Herald, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Moon.
The top gust at Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay was 51 mph, Herald said. Gusts of 61 mph were reported in Latrobe, Westmoreland County, and 62 mph in Indiana County.
By evening, wind speeds had dropped to 5 to 15 mph, Herald said.
The lone injury reported in the region was a hunter who was struck by a falling tree in the North Huntingdon area of Westmoreland County. A 50-year-old farm worker in Eastern Pennsylvania was killed when a tree fell on him in Montgomery County.
Three residents of a boarding house in Washington County escaped injuries in a fire, authorities said. Flames erupted about 6:20 a.m. after power lines blew onto the roof of their Walnut Street home in Washington.
High winds and rain that began around 5:30 a.m. were responsible for the downing of trees, branches and utility lines, officials said.
Duquesne Light Co. spokesman Joseph S. Balaban said 38,000 customers were left without power yesterday. Especially hard hit were the city of Pittsburgh; Ross and Reserve in the North Hills; and Hanover and Center in Beaver County.
Service had been restored to all but about 6,100 customers by early last night, and the majority of those were expected to have electricity by midnight, Balaban said.
About 50,000 Allegheny Energy customers in the region lost electricity during the day, utility spokesman Steve Gail said.
About 9,700 customers were affected in Washington County; 8,000 in Butler County; 5,000 in the Latrobe area; 4,600 in Jeannette; and about 5,000 in the Mon Valley.
Workers still were trying to restore service to about 7,800 customers last evening, Gail said.
Penn Power spokesman Bart Spagnola said about 5,200 customers lost power during the day -- about 4,000 of them in the North Hills after a tree fell onto a transmission line along Bradford Road in the Wexford area. Service was restored to those customers within 90 minutes.
The loss of electrical service forced William Penn Elementary School in Verona and Bishop Canevin High School in Crafton to close yesterday. Moon Area Schools dismissed students at 9:30 a.m., and schools in some areas delayed the start of classes.
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