2 dead, 320K without power after storms slam region

Two people were killed Tuesday evening after a fast-moving line of storms downed trees and wires, causing power outages throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.

Just after 7 p.m., Pittsburgh emergency crews responded to reports of a man electrocuted by live wires in the 1000 block of St. Martin Street in the city’s South Side Slopes. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.

Details about the second death weren’t released, but Allegheny County officials said another person died in the storm.

About 320,000 customers in Southwestern Pennsylvania remained without power Wednesday morning as a result of the severe storms that ripped through the region Tuesday afternoon and evening, Duquesne Light Co. and FirstEnergy reported Wednesday morning.

Duquesne Light Co. said that about 216,000 customers in Allegheny, Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland counties still were without power from about 5,490 individual outages as of 9:30 a.m. About 33,300 of those customers are in Pittsburgh, according to Duquesne Light’s outage map.

FirstEnergy Corp. said its West Penn Power Co. had about 100,000 customers without power in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Indiana and Westmoreland counties as of 9:30 a.m. The company estimated it would get power restored to 31,000 customers in Allegheny County by about 12:30 p.m. It anticipates restoring power to about 15,300 customers in Armstrong County before noon.

West Penn Power did not offer an estimate on when it might restore power to about 41,600 customers in Westmoreland County.

Several roads remained closed Wednesday morning, including: Allegheny River Boulevard between Center Avenue and Plum Street in Oakmont and Verona; Allegheny River Boulevard between Sandy Creek Road and James Street in Penn Hills and Verona; Hunter Road between Colorado Street and Plum Street in Penn Hills; and Hulton Road between Allegheny Avenue and 5th Street in Oakmont.

An alert from North Huntington police warned several traffic lights there were still without power Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday night, the region’s 911 centers received 5,000 calls per hour — in some cases 1,000 per minute — because of the storm.

A large swath of destructive wind damage was seen across our area as storms rolled through. In some locations, straight-line winds gusted over 80-90 mph -- stronger than many of the smaller EF-0 & EF-1 tornadoes we typically see in this region, but for a much, much wider area. pic.twitter.com/t1J1odjqGz

— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) April 29, 2025

Authorities urged residents to use extreme caution when moving through the city while crews worked to restore services and remove dangerous debris such as downed trees and possible live wires.

Multiple school districts were closed or on two-hour delays on Wednesday, including Fox Chapel Area, Gateway, Franklin Regional, Freeport Area, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Plum and Riverview. All Pittsburgh Public Schools are closed.

Freeport Area, Kiski Area and New Ken-Arnold school districts are on a two-hour delay Wednesday. For the latest in school delays and closings, click here.

Forest Hills Mayor Frank Porco declared an emergency in the borough because of the downed trees and power lines. He asked residents to refrain from non-essential travel.  

Severe thunderstorms raced across the region, downing trees, rerouting traffic and causing widespread power outages.

The initial line of storms came through between 5 and 6 p.m. and spurred severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. On Tuesday night, the National Weather Service couldn’t confirm any tornadoes.

The highest wind gust recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport was 71 mph, according to the weather service.

Winds whipping through Westmoreland County Tuesday evening reached speeds of 79 mph, the National Weather Service Pittsburgh office in Moon confirmed Wednesday.

The thunderstorms and high winds — reaching 70 to nearly 80 mph — impacted the majority of Western Pa., stretching from I-80 to the Pennsylvania-West Virginia border, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Timothy Cermak.

The storm closed heavily traveled Hulton Road near Eighth Street in Oakmont thanks to a large tree that, homeowner Michelle Jesse said, was struck by lightning and blocked all lanes of the roadway. Numerous electrical wires and an electrical pole also came down.

“I actually saw it get hit by lightning,” she said. “It was a big ball of light and it just went down.”

More pics of the tree that split in half in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/fzC4dglAMg

— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) April 30, 2025

Onlookers walked to scene to snap photos and get a glimpse of the destruction of one of the trademark trees that line Hulton.

Jesse has lived at the Tudor-style home since 2012. As she retreated back to her SUV in the driveway, she just shook her head.

“That is something,” she said.

Hulton Road had severe utility damage and may be closed for a day or two, Oakmont police Chief Michael Ford said.

He said there were multiple power outages but no injuries. About five houses were hit by downed trees, Ford said.

The storms did significant damage to a structure created for the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, according to TribLive partner WTAE.

In a statement, the USGA said the Trophy Club took “significant damage and was the only structure affected.” Officials said the structure had been under construction.

“We’re grateful to report that everyone is safe — and that’s what matters most,” the statement said.

USGA said the structure will serve as an upgraded ticket facility with a sports-bar-like atmosphere, climate control and TVs. As of Tuesday morning, officials said, the structure consisted of just flooring and a tent.

“With six weeks remaining until the championship, we’re confident in our ability to get back on track and do not anticipate any long-term impact,” the USGA said.

The U.S. Open is set for June 12-15.

Phyllis Edwards and her three children were in the basement of her Oakmont home on the corner of California Avenue and Fifth Street when her husband texted her, asking if she and the kids were OK. They took shelter there after seeing a tornado warning from the National Weather Service.

“He said the neighbor asked if we were OK … the only reason he would ask if we were OK is if something happened,” Edwards said.

She went outside to see the giant oak tree in her yard uprooted, knocked over and blocking Fifth Street.

An officer stopped by her house and warned her and her children to stay away from the wires the tree took down with it.

“If anyone would put the power back on, they would be live wires hanging in the road,” Edwards said.

In Brookline, the roof was blown off of the building housing Fiori’s Pizza along Capital Avenue, just off West Liberty Avenue.

Video shows the roof, mostly intact, upside down in a side parking lot.

There were no reports of anyone injured there.

In Plum, Ron Kuhn looked in bewilderment as his carport rested on an electrical pole Tuesday along Milltown Road.

Kuhn, 68, has lived across the street from his recognizable barn for 17 years, but said he’s never expected anything like he saw Tuesday.

“I can’t do nothing. It’s wrapped around it,” Kuhn said as cars passed, careful to drive slowly across a cable wire from Kuhn’s house that lay in the road.

“It was dark as heck. It was the darkest I’ve ever seen.

“What are you going to do? I just don’t know what I’m going to do to get that down.”

In Monroeville’s University Park neighborhood, just south of Boyce Park, residents without power were congregating outside, while the buzzing sounds of chainsaws could be heard coming from various directions.

Along College Park Drive, Mike DeDomenic was watching neighbors chop up a pear tree he had planted 35 years ago that fell onto the front of his house, possibly damaging the porch.

“It’s going to make the front of the house look a lot different,” he said. “It was good at blocking the sun.”

DeDomenic described the storm as “about three minutes of wild roaring noise.” While his wife and their dog were hiding in the downstairs gameroom, he went upstairs and was more concerned with a swaying tree towering over the back of his house instead of the pear tree out front.

“I heard a big pop. Next thing I know the tree came down,” he said.

Nearby on Spartan Drive, a falling tree shattered the back window of a woman’s Jeep, damaged the vehicle’s roof and cracked the windshield. She declined to be interviewed, but felt fortunate she was able to get a tree contractor to help.

Residents of Drexel Drive were taking matters into their own hands. A tree and a utility pole came down across Drexel just off of College Park, blocking the only way in or out for residents of the more than two dozen homes on Drexel. Many residents said they had tried calling Duquesne Light to no avail, but they understood how busy they and other responders were.

Mark Korbar, who lives across from Drexel on Nittany Drive, said he didn’t see a tornado, but, “I heard what sounded like a freight train.”

“I don’t know what came through here,” said Dana Cecere, who lives at the corner of Drexel and College Park drives. “Something came through.”

The service lines to Cecere’s home were down across her driveway, caused by the tree and pole that fell on Drexel. She described what she experienced as “a wall of wind,” which blew away her neighbor’s backyard shed, leaving its contents behind.

Cecere said her fear of lightning caused her to run downstairs. She was worried the wind would rip the roof off the back deck of her house, but it appeared to be intact, which she credited on a “good builder.”

“I thought it was a tornado,” she said. “I’ve never seen one before. The force of the wind to crack that tree, it’s questionable.”

That there was potentially another around of strong storms coming later that night wasn’t welcome news. “That’s a little bit scary,” Cecere said.

Haley Daugherty, Jeff Himler and Brian C. Rittmeyer are TribLive staff writers. They can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com, jhimler@triblive.com and brittmeyer@triblive.com.

Staff writer Michael DiVittorio also contributed to this report.