Some Westmoreland power outages could last until Friday as new windstorm approaches

A winter storm that pummeled Western Pennsylvania with high winds and steady rain Tuesday left several flooded roads and more than 9,000 customers without power in Westmoreland County.

The number of power outages was down to about 470 by 9 p.m. Wednesday as West Penn Power worked to restore service.

But the utility estimated some of those customers, including about 100 in the Mt. Pleasant area, might be without electricity until 4 p.m. Friday.

That’s about when the National Weather Service is expecting another storm to blow through the area with more strong wind gusts.

West Penn Power spokesman Will Boye said that restoration estimate could change.

“We’ve secured 25 additional crews to assist our personnel,” he said. “It’s possible we may bring in some resources from our sister utilities in Ohio.”

“Our primary focus at this stage is to remove any hazards and assess the damage so that our crews can access the site of an outage and begin to safely make the repairs,” West Penn Power parent FirstEnergy said Wednesday in a statement. “Due to the extent of damage and continued inclement weather, restoration work is expected to continue over the next few days, particularly in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.”

Boye said utility crews give priority to tackling outages affecting the largest number of customers after first addressing critical damage.

“We want to take care of downed power lines first that could be a threat to public safety and then move on to restoring critical facilities,” he said.

Boye said crews initially were hampered by high winds exceeding 40 mph, which prevents them from safely ascending in bucket trucks to make repairs.

The National Weather Service reported a high local wind gust of 68 mph at 4 p.m. Tuesday, while, in the high ridges of neighboring West Virginia, gusts of 71 mph still were present late Wednesday morning.

Mt. Pleasant was one of the areas in Westmoreland hardest-hit by the storm.

In Mt. Pleasant Township, Boye said, “We’ve had a number of power lines go down due to trees being toppled by high winds.”

The line problems in the township affected electrical power in neighboring Mt. Pleasant Borough, Mayor Diane Bailey said. At the height of the storm, she estimated, about half of the borough — mainly south of Main Street — was without power.

“I have been here since 1981,” Bailey said. “By far, this was the worst windstorm that I’ve ever experienced here, with the number of people that had no power. We’ve had blizzards come through here before, but we didn’t seem to have as much loss of power.”

At 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, more than 1,600 customers in Mt. Pleasant Township and more than 1,000 in Mt. Pleasant Borough were without power, according to West Penn Power.

The utility reported those numbers had dropped to 77 and 20, respectively, by 9 p.m. Wednesday.

If you need help

Those in the Mt. Pleasant community who still lack power can head to the fire station on Church Street to stay warm and to recharge their cellphones or oxygen equipment, Bailey said Wednesday.

East Huntingdon Township Volunteer Fire Department posted on social media Wednesday afternoon that any residents there who still lacked power or were in need of water could contact the department at 412-558-0241.

In East Huntingdon, customer outages decreased from more than 950 at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to 44 at 9 pm. Wednesday, according to West Penn Power.

The town’s ambulance station lost power and eventually was able to use a generator for electricity, Bailey said. The borough office and central fire station did not lose power but were without internet or phone service, she said.

She said the borough crews, police and firefighters were kept busy answering storm-related calls throughout Tuesday.

“I have to take my hat off to all of those departments,” she said. “They just chipped in and gave help where it was needed.”

Another storm coming

The next major storm is expected to arrive in the region Friday, according to the National Weather Service’s Pittsburgh office.

Regarding precipitation, “it might start as a wintry mix and transition to rain on Friday,” said Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the weather service. “Starting on Saturday, the rain will transition to snow. It’s not going to be a heavy snow. There will probably be some accumulating snow on the ridges.”

More high winds are anticipated as part of the storm.

“It’s another wind impact event,” said Hefferan and is expected to affect the region’s ridges first, beginning Friday afternoon.

“Into Saturday, we could see some high wind warnings again,” she said. “It’s a strong low-pressure system that could create some significant wind gusts.”

Unlike Tuesday’s storm, she said, the one arriving Friday is expected to usher in much colder temperatures that will last for days. They could include wind chills in the single-digits or lower.

“It’s going to be a very cold week,” she said.

Boye said West Penn Power prepared for Tuesday’s storm by initiating 16-hour shifts for crews, to ensure round-the-clock coverage.

He said the utility is tracking the next storm that is expected to arrive Friday and likely will take similar steps to prepare for it.