About 1,000 Duquesne Light customers still without power, Westmoreland power restored

About 1,000 Duquesne Light customers remained without power Friday morning as crews continue to restore service disrupted by Wednesday’s storms.

Nearly all West Penn Power customers in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties have had their power restored, with about 100 scattered outages as of 6:30 a.m. Friday, according to West Penn Power.

New Kensington was hit by one of two tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service that touched down in the Alle-Kiski Valley area shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The stronger of the two was an EF1 with winds up to 100 mph that traveled 4.1 miles from Frazer, 3 miles northwest of Tarentum and into New Kensington. The second, an EF0 with winds up to 70 mph, hit Riverview Street in Lower Burrell and traveled a quarter of a mile.

No deaths or injuries were reported with either tornado, according to the weather service.

All of Southwestern Pennsylvania was hit by strong winds and rain.

Trees took down multiple West Penn Power lines impacting more than 41,000 customers at its peak, according to the utility company’s Twitter.

? Storms overnight caused tree and equipment damage across our service area. Here's a look at what crews are up against in the field.

⚠ STAY FAR AWAY from downed power lines! Always assume they are energized and dangerous! Report ASAP: 888-544-4877 pic.twitter.com/qYn6TBCZKU

— West Penn Power (@W_Penn_Power) April 8, 2020

It’s unclear when service would be fully restored. 

Duquesne Light had more than 500 crew members working and restored power to more than 48,000 customers.

We have 500+ crew members working in the field today to restore your power as quickly and safely as possible. We’ve already restored approx. 39,000 customers and are working around the clock on the rest. Remember to keep your distance from crews and thank you for your patience! pic.twitter.com/ZPOtZceO57

— Duquesne Light (@DuquesneLight) April 9, 2020

Its website showed 51 outages affecting about 1,000 customers as of 6:30 a.m. Friday.

“Power outages are never convenient, especially during a pandemic when many customers are working from home, learning remotely and storing food in their refrigerators and freezers,” said Dave Johnson, chief customer officer of Duquesne Light. “Our focus is on getting power restored as quickly and safely as possible so our customers can resume their normal, daily activities.”