PARKER — Crews of Parker-based Central Electric Cooperative have restored electric service this morning to members in northern Butler County caused by a severe lightning storm that moved through after midnight.

The six hour outage affected nearly 816 members in Boyers, North Washington, Eau Claire and Cherry Valley. Lightning struck a pole in a remote location.

Equipment damage was so severe that crew chief Don Cook stated, “I was amazed of the destructive power of this lightning strike. I have never witnessed such damage in my career.”

Power was restored at 6:30 a.m. today.

Most of the remaining power outages are in Venango County.