More storms expected Monday as cleanup from severe weather continues

Francesca DeAngelis-Witchko and her husband were grilling outside in McCandless when Sunday’s hail storm hit.

Then, their basement flooded.

“Our backyard, it was basically a river,” she said. “It just started seeping into our basement and it came in through a bunch of our walls.”

Their basement has about four inches of water, with puddles still sitting on the floor Monday morning. They have fans running, but they’re concerned about the damage and potential mold.

“We probably will have to replace the floor at some point,” she said, adding that they aren’t insured for flood damage. She said they weren’t aware the home flooded when they purchased it as first-time homebuyers, and they don’t know how much it will cost to repair the current flood damage.

DeAnelis-Witchko said she’s heard about fallen trees, power outages and flooding throughout the area.

“We have a lot of debris in our yard, lots of leaves and sticks,” she said.

McCandless officials said its Department of Public Works crew would be removing and chipping any storm debris that residents could drag to the sides of the roads for the next 48 hours.

Another round of severe weather came through the areas on Monday afternoon following damaging storms that moved through the region Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop and move through the area from north to south between 3 and 8 p.m., meteorologist Bill Modzelewski said.

Another cold front will push south today with showers and thunderstorms developing ahead of it. Some of the storms could be strong with wind gusts and hail being the main concerns. Its possible that convection today will not be as strong as the storms yesterday. pic.twitter.com/8BRUExfCl7

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) June 14, 2021

A few areas could see damaging wind gusts and large hail, he said.

Wind damage, large hail and localized flash flooding were seen with storms on Sunday.

Winds of 60-70 mph were recorded, and quarter-size hail was reported, Modzelewski said.

Jenna Lake, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said there were widespread reports of damaging wind bringing down trees and tree limbs. Flooding, she said, was “significant,” with about two inches of rain falling Sunday evening in southern Allegheny County. Hail hit several areas, she said, with inch-sized hail stones reported in McCandless and Wexford. Hail stones measured about an inch and a quarter in Edgewood.

Peter Eck, who lives in Ross, said he saw small hail followed by heavy rain that made the visibility “almost zero.”

A healthy oak tree, which he estimated to be about 50 feet tall, fell in his yard because of the damaging winds.

“We were very lucky all things considered,” he said. “If it had gone about 90 degrees the other angle, it would have fallen directly onto my house.”

About five trees fell in neighbors’ yards, he said. He knew of at least one neighbor who had flood damage.

Eck said he had a little water come in under the front door, but not much.

“We were able to just wipe it up with a bath towel,” he said, explaining that the front door seemed to be flexing in the wind.

Nearby North Park Pool was closed Monday due to power outage issues, according to a tweet from Allegheny County.

The Schenley Park Pool, which was scheduled to open Monday, was damaged by a mudslide caused by the storms, the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation said. The pool will be closed until the damage can be repaired.

Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Works said in a tweet around 9 a.m. Monday that its Forestry Division continued to work “around the clock” to address fallen trees. They reminded drivers not to drive around barricades that closed some streets due to storm damage.

“There are downed power lines that are energized and present a hazard to the public until the utility company is able to de-energize,” they wrote.

About 5,000 Duquesne Light customers were still without power as of about 7:30 p.m. Monday, according to Matt McDonald, a Duquesne Light spokesman. Most were expected to have power restored before midnight, but some wouldn’t have power restored until 9 p.m. Tuesday, including some who lost power during a second round of storms Monday afternoon.

The company said more than 22,000 customers lost power at the height of the storms.

“We are also monitoring the potential for more severe weather later today and will work to ensure that any additional outages are addressed as quickly as possible,” Duquesne Light wrote in a statement.

pic.twitter.com/gkYFkhtJrw

— Duquesne Light (@DuquesneLight) June 14, 2021

West Penn Power was reporting fewer outages, with about 300 customers affected in Allegheny County; 23 in Butler County; 78 in Washington County; and 101 in Westmoreland County.

Norman Voegler, assistant chief for Ingomar Volunteer Fire Company, said he was manning a command center with fire Highlands and Peebles fire departments, local EMS and McCandless Police Department Sunday night. Over the course of about two or three hours, they got about 60 storm-related calls ranging from trees down in the streets to minor injuries when trees fell on houses.

“We had a lot of wires down, a lot of trees falling on wires, trees on fire on the wires,” he said, adding there were also a few trees falling on houses. Voegler said, there were no serious injuries.

Voegler said the fire department and other local first responders were ready to jump into action again Monday if needed, as he said clouds were rolling in over the area Monday afternoon.

“If weather like that happens, please watch for emergency vehicles,” he said, urging people to use caution traveling in bad weather. “When we go into storm mode, we go everywhere with lights and sirens on.”

Monday’s storms began in the northwest and moved southeast.

Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said Allegheny County experienced damaging storms again Monday afternoon. By about 4:30 p.m., he said that storms had hit many Pittsburgh neighborhoods, much of Allegheny County and parts of Westmoreland County.

“We have widespread reports of trees down, trees down on homes,” Hendricks said.

There was a thunderstorm with winds reaching 60 miles per hour at West Mifflin Airport around 3:30 p.m., he said.

As the afternoon commute got started, storms still lingering in the region began bringing down trees and power lines farther south.

“Down in Fayette County, Farmington, North Union Township and other areas, there were lots of trees going down,” Hendricks said.

In Mount Pleasant Township, the triangle formed by Route 819, Route 981 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike was littered with closed roads as a result of storm damage.

Hendricks said the region should be in for a relatively quiet evening, and that there might be some additional scattered rain showers after 8 p.m. Monday evening, but they would not bring damaging storms.

There is a chance for an isolated shower or thunderstorm in the region again Tuesday, but the rest of the week should be “clear and sunny,” Lake said.