The Eagle has seen its share of storms.

On Tuesday afternoon, power went out for more than two hours at the Eagle as West Penn Power and other companies went to work.

It was a great job they did because when power goes out, reporting goes down.

We, and many businesses and homeowners, learn a lesson when severe and damaging thunderstorms knock down power lines and cause all sorts of service disruptions: We don’t take our utilities for granted.

Many staff members were truly surprised at how dark and silent the offices felt. We proofed pages that were done up to the power outage at 1:30 p.m. by the sunlight filtering into the east-side windows.

It reminds us of the past. Cartoonists in the early part of the 20th century at the Saturday Evening Post would finish up their work (keeping the incandescent lights off during the day) by the natural, realistic light of the sun. Back then, it was pen, ink and presswork: not a computer in sight.

The Eagle reported about the rain and winds that pelted areas in southern Butler County on Tuesday afternoon, flooding several Butler city streets. A flash flood even managed to immobilize a car on West Penn Street.

A Butler County dispatcher also said the office got a call reporting that lightning had struck a shed in Cranberry Township around 2:30 p.m.

West Penn Power reported that more than 1,800 Butler County customers lost electricity during the storm, with a majority of about 1,600 being in Middlesex Township, and about 150 in Butler around 3 p.m.

The Eagle finally had power restored about 3:45 p.m. Pressed for lost time, literally, we got a paper out.

We had another storm go through at 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Thanks to the power company and the first responders for seeing us through these storms.

— AA