More than 230,000 people in southwestern Pennsylvania were without electricity Friday night, as emergency crews in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities were responding to widespread reports of damage caused by winds of up to 60 mph that barreled through a 12-county region.
A wind advisory the National Weather Service originally issued for Western Pennsylvania turned into a high-wind warning late Friday afternoon.
Portions of eastern Ohio and Tucker County in northern West Virginia were also in the warning area, with wind gusts of up to 55-60 mph expected until midnight in Allegheny County as well as Westmoreland, Washington, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Venango, Clarion, Jefferson and Indiana counties.
The high winds blew down trees and signs, damaged roofs and structures, and shredded power lines in multiple communities, prompting Duquesne Light Co. to summon extra utility crews to address damage.
By mid-evening Friday, nearly 170,000 Duquesne Light customers were reporting outages around the region, and the utility warned that response times for those crews might be delayed due to potential hazards created by downed live wires.
More than 50,000 others served by FirstEnergy and subsidiaries also were without power by mid-evening Friday, according to the utility’s website.
The apparent-highest wind gust reported to the weather service was 70 mph at the Zanesville Airport in Muskingum County, Ohio. But the weather service received myriad reports of gusts ranging from 42 mph in Moon Township and Pittsburgh to 59 mph at the Allegheny County Airport in West Mifflin.
Police, fire and emergency crews around the region responded to multiple reports of blocked streets and roads due to storm damage, and at least 13 flights in or out of Pittsburgh International Airport were cancelled Friday, according to the FlightAware tracking website.
Courtesy of Cheyenne Hons
This Advance Auto Parts sign lies atop a car in a parking lot along Route 51 in Pleasant Hills Friday night after high winds swept through the region, causing widespread power outages and other damage.
Winds also caused problems for radio stations around the region, including Pittsburgh Community Broadcasting Corporation — parent company of 90.5 WESA and 91.3 WYEP — which experienced heavy damage to a primary satellite dish on the roof of its Community Broadcasting Center on the South Side of Pittsburgh.
News station WESA received programming from NPR through the dish, but it switched to a backup internet-based system to continue delivering programming after the wind wrecked the dish, said PCBC President & CEO Terry O’Reilly.
Elsewhere in Pittsburgh, the winds felled trees, utility poles and power lines in many neighborhoods, city officials said. Crews from the Public Safety and Public Works departments and the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure would work through the night to respond to emergency calls, they added.
Part of a building reportedly collapsed in Carrick near Brownsville Road and Nobles Lane, according to city police. In Swisshelm Park, Commercial Street experienced heavy damage and closed to traffic between Whipple Street and Summerset Drive in Squirrel Hill until approximately noon Saturday, according to the state Department of Transportation.
PennDOT said crews must remove and secure loose material before the road can reopen to traffic. The Interstate 376-Parkway East bridge above that street will remain open, PennDOT said. But two Parkway East ramps in Churchill were closed due to damage — the eastbound off-ramp to Greensburg Pike, and the on-ramp from William Penn Highway to the westbound lanes of the Parkway, PennDOT said.
Route 30 also was closed at Electric Avenue in East Pittsburgh and North Braddock due to a downed tree, PennDOT said.
Noblestown Road — a primary thoroughfare through the city’s West End and western suburbs, also closed to traffic Friday night between Walker and Columbia avenues in Collier Township, PennDOT said. And in Lawrence County, downed trees and wires forced the closure of Route 18 in Wilmington Township and Route 351 in Little Beaver Township, according to PennDOT.
The high winds were expected to subside by late Friday night, and the warning was to expire at midnight, according to the weather service.
A Baldwin Borough fire engine blocks a street in that community after wind gusts swept through the region Friday night, causing widespread power outages and other damage.