Storms left many in dark
Strong thunderstorms hit Butler County on Friday, leaving many residents without power.
West Penn Power reported 1,200 customers in the county were affected by the storms, which finally moved east overnight into Saturday.
Two of the areas that fared the worst were Center and Jefferson townships, which both saw more than 200 homes left in the dark.
“The challenging thing was, we had those storms move through (Thursday) and Butler County was one of the hardest hit areas,” said West Penn Power spokesman Mark Nitowski. “We were getting things back up from that when more storms and heavy rain came through. The bad weather just continued.”
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, 36 customers still were without service, according to West Penn's website.
Central Electric Cooperative reported power outages to 61 county residences by Saturday afternoon, including 38 in Donegal Township. Service eventually was restored to all members.
In a 24-hour period beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company was dispatched to 19 calls of downed power lines. The unit serves the borough of Saxonburg, along with the townships of Jefferson, Clinton and Winfield.
Fortunately, nobody was injured.
“No poles came down, it was just wires on the ground, across the road,” said Saxonburg Chief Christopher Dean. “Most of them were in Jefferson Township.
“By the time we were called out, the rain was still heavy, but at least the wind had died down.”
Saxonburg firefighters also were called to a house in the borough with a flooded basement just before midnight Friday.
“We used a sump pump and got rid of as much water as we could,” said Dean.
