County outages wane as more storms loom
About 25 power outages remained Monday evening, May 5, in Butler County after severe storms struck the area since last Tuesday with more severe weather ahead.
FirstEnergy Corporation, the parent company of West Penn Power and Penn Power, reported about 25 outages across the county Monday evening, a significant drop from the 220 outages reported that morning.
“Tuesday’s storm was the worst one we’ve had in 15 years,” Todd Meyers, a representative for FirstEnergy Corporation, said. “It impacted more than 350,000 of our customers in Pennsylvania, with 95% restored by Saturday afternoon. Butler County had comparatively fewer outages than many areas.”
In the morning, Clinton Township was the primary problem area with 103 reported outages. Buffalo Township had 64 and Mercer Township had less than 20. In contrast, Clinton, Buffalo, Jefferson, Cranberry and Connoquenessing townships now each have less than 20 reported outages.
The company reported its crews are already on site or preparing for dispatch to the remaining outages in the county.
Central Electric Cooperative is now reporting no outage in their entire coverage area. Monday morning, the company was reporting one outage in Butler County and 409 outages in Clarion County.
FirstEnergy Corporation is reporting 117 outages in Allegheny County and 277 outages in Westmoreland County. Most of the remaining townships in the area have fewer than 20 reported outages.
The National Weather Service is predicting another round of isolated severe storms Monday afternoon and evening, according to meteorologist Chris Leonardi.
Temperatures are expected to cool into the mid 60s Tuesday.
Leonardi said the chance of hail larger than one inch and strong wind gusts 55-65 mph are around 5% with even lower chances of an isolated tornado.
Radar estimates also showed potential for flash flooding in the northern part of Butler County, he said, with 1.5 to 2.5 inches of rain recorded in the area Sunday.
“The good news is this is probably the last day of a severe weather chance,” Leonardi said Monday.
The influx of isolated severe storms can be partially attributed to an upper-level low-pressure system over the region pulling moisture into the air from the Atlantic Ocean, Leonardi said.
Tuesday will likely hold less severe showers and thunderstorms due to a storm system over Kentucky migrating over the Ohio region into Western Pennsylvania before it will clear by Wednesday morning, Leonardi said.
Butler County Emergency Services announced FirstEnergy activated its Water and Ice Program, making customers without power eligible for bottled water and bags of ice. Only one supply per household will be provided.
Supplies can be retrieved from Giant Eagle distribution sites at 100 Buffalo Plaza in Buffalo Township, 1521 N. Main St. Extension in Center Township, 700 Moraine Point Plaza in Butler Township, 20111 Route 19 in Cranberry Township and 206 Seven Fields Blvd. in Seven Fields.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program users may qualify to get one month’s benefits restored by completing a form within 10 days of the disaster with how much food was lost.
The Butler County Assistance Office or statewide customer service center at 1-877-395-8930 must be contacted to process forms. Residents are also encouraged to dial 211 for resources.
