While severe storms raged throughout Western Pennsylvania on Wednesday evening, it appears the majority of Butler County was spared significant damage.

Despite reports of a tornado near New Castle and severe flooding in Pittsburgh's South Hills, emergency officials here were left to deal with only some flooded roads and a few downed trees.

Steve Bicehouse, director of Butler County Emergency Services, said various roads were shut down temporarily due to flooding and washouts.

He said problems occurred after 4:30 p.m. and continued for several hours.

“The water came up quickly and receded quickly,” Bicehouse said.

He said there weren't any reports of motorists driving through flooding and getting stuck.

The 911 dispatch center also received calls for downed trees and electrical lines.

The National Weather Service reports 2.26 inches of rain fell in Butler with 1.57 inches in Portersville.

Butler Township police responded to several reports of flooded or damaged roads, most notably at Old Plank Road between Litman and McQuistion roads.

Officers closed Old Plank after finding water gushing out of several small holes.

Deborah Casadei, state Department of Transportation spokesman, said this morning the road will remain closed. She said PennDOT crews were scheduled to complete a road repair project there in about a week, but officials decided to keep the road closed and move the project up.

“The road is scheduled to remain closed for road repairs until July 26,” Casadei said. “It will be open only to local traffic and emergency vehicles.”

Township police also closed a portion of Whitestown Road near Fairground Hill Road because of flooding. Whitestown was reopened after about 30 minutes, officers said.

Route 8 near the Picklegate Crossing, a portion of Crisswell Road and Saw Mill Run Road near the entrance to the Butler Township park also needed cleared after floodwaters left sand and other debris on the road, officers said.

Butler police and fire departments responded to minor flooding issues throughout the city, but no serious damage was reported.

Sgt. Chuck Mascellino of the Cranberry Township Police Department said the department and emergency crews didn't have do deal with any flooding or major weather related issues.

“The creeks probably got a little high, but there was no flooding,” he said.

The Zelienople Police Department administrator also reported “all was quiet last night” despite the thunderstorms that damaged some of the surrounding areas.

PennDOT's Casadei said a handful of other roads in the county were flooded and debris-covered and closed for a short time.

Short spans that were closed were Cemetery Road between West Sunbury Road and Oneida Valley Road and St. Wendelin Road.

“We are removing debris from the roadways and inlets, and repairing washouts along the roads,” Casadei said. “None are major closures.”

Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department Chief Chris Ballina said his department responded to six calls Wednesday night.

“They were all trees down into power lines,” he said. The first call came in between 5 and 5:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

“If it's downed lines, we block it off and wait for crews from West Penn Power or Central Electric to take care of it,” said Ballina.

He said Saxonburg firefighters received no calls of flooding or lightning strikes.

Sarver fire Chief Bill George said his department did not receive any weather-related calls.

“We were fortunate, I guess,” he said.

Wednesday's reported tornado near New Castle prompted a tornado warning in parts of Butler County near Moraine State Park, but no tornados were reported.

Tyson Martin, Moraine State Park manager trainee, said water levels were up at Lake Arthur, but no major incidents were reported.

Martin said electricity was out on the North Shore and there are some trees down in the park, but they did not cause any damage and will be cleared today.

First Energy, which includes Penn Power and West Penn Power customers, reports scattered outages across the county.

Crews of Parker-based Central Electric Cooperative continue to work to restore service to 32 members this morning.

At 6 p.m. Wednesday, outages peaked at 3,800 members without electricity throughout the cooperative's territory.