Storms leave thousands of people in dark
Butler County saw damage from scattered storms Thursday.
Butler's Tommi Coyle said a tree fell and hit her home, causing some damage to the roof, the gutters and the siding, but nothing too severe and no one was hurt.
“Once the wind started picking up, the tree cracked in half,” she said. “It looked like it was a microburst or something.”
The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh issued a severe thunderstorm warning for northern Butler County and five other counties.
The warning was issued until 5:30 p.m. Thursday, and the storm itself appeared to pass in that timeframe. A second smaller storm also passed through the county.
West Penn Power reported as many as 5,800 customers without power. Worst affected was Cranberry Township, which was listed as having 2,104 customers without power out of the 14,818 customers in that municipality.
Central Electric Cooperative reported 3,871 of its 9,683 customers were without power, with Clearfield Township— 1,048 of 1,049 customers — and Summit Township — 827 of 897 customers — the hardest hit.
The companies both estimated that power would be restored to customers by 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
Read more in Friday's Butler Eagle.
