PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — More than 100,000 people are without power after storms hit Western Pennsylvania on Monday amid a possible heat wave.
Severe weather moved through the area Monday evening as many people saw severe thunderstorm warnings in their cities. All previous warnings and warnings related to severe thunderstorms have now expired.
Duquesne Light said more than 95,000 customers in Western Pennsylvania were without power as of midnight Tuesday. Hampton, Hopewell, Bellevue, Shadyside, Penn Hills and Monroeville have more than 3,000 customers without power. Thirty-eight municipalities have more than a thousand customers without power.
FirstEnergy, which includes West Penn Power, said more than 11,000 customers in Western Pennsylvania were without power as of 12:04 a.m. Tuesday. Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties have more than 1,000 customers without power, including more than 3,000 customers in Allegheny and Butler counties.
It is not clear when power will be available to customers again. In a news release Monday evening, Duquesne Light said, “DLC is working to assess the damage and determine an estimated restoration time for all customers.” It says crews are focusing on “critical and emerging needs” first.
In a Facebook post at 8pm on Monday, Duquesne Light said: “We are experiencing technical difficulties reporting an outage. Our team is working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
Pittsburgh prepares for heat wave
The Pittsburgh area is under watch for extreme heat, lasting through the end of the week. A heat wave is a period of three or more days in a row with temperatures around 90 degrees, with no problem getting below 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the period.
Western Pennsylvania hasn’t experienced these types of heat waves since 1988, and the National Weather Service has issued just three extreme heat warnings since 2011.
Several cooling centers are open to help people take a break from the heat. Doctors also emphasize the importance of listening to your body when it comes to possible heat-related illnesses.
Storms cause significant damage in the Pittsburgh area
The severe weather that swept through the area Monday evening brought strong winds that toppled trees and fences. The wind also tore off roofs and bent poles.
Many people in Verona are without power. Some people sat outside their homes Monday evening due to the lack of air conditioning.
“We were at the wave pool and saw lightning and said we had to leave,” said Sheila McHenry, a mother of three. ‘It got bad on the way home. We came back to this. The power was out.’
At the AJ Demor Towers, a seniors’ apartment in Verona, emergency services plan to evacuate the building, which is without power. Some of the 63 people living there are running low on oxygen. The power has been out since 5:30 PM on Monday and there is no generator, the mayor said.
“Whoever owns this, I don’t know if it’s changed hands or not, but they should be accountable for this,” Verona Mayor Dave Ricupero said. “And I’m meeting with my code enforcement officer tomorrow to come out here and go over this building.”
The mayor of Verona added that the building also has no emergency lighting.
