Winds whipping up to 70 mph walloped Butler County overnight and this morning, littering roads with downed power lines, broken trees limbs, uprooted road signs and debris from runaway garbage cans.

The wind storm created an obstacle course of sorts for morning commuters, some forced to navigate through intersections without working traffic lights.

Electrical service was lost throughout the county and police and fire companies were kept busy from the weather-related calls that included flooded basements, shattered windows and tripped sensors on burglar alarms.

In Evans City, arcing wires ignited a power pole that caught a roof on fire at a lumber yard.

The potent winds also prompted most school districts across Butler County to operate under a 2-hour delay this morning. The only districts to maintain their regular schedules were Mars and Slippery Rock.

Out-of-county districts unaffected were Grove City, A-C Valley and Union.

Thousands of homes in Butler County were without power at the peak of the storm; many of those homeowners should expect to be without electricity for much of today, spokespeople for utility companies said.

"With the winds still kicking up," Allegheny Power spokesman Mark Nitowski said at 7:15 a.m., "it's still a fluid situation. Most of our customers will have their service back by this afternoon or evening.

"But some may still be without power after today."

In all, about 2,100 Allegheny Power customers lost service. Electricity was restored to 600 of those by about 7 a.m.

Some 4,000 members of Parker-based Central Electric Cooperative were without power due to the winds, said Christina O'Donnell, director of communication and marketing for the utility.