West Penn Power crews rushed to the scene of tornado damage and an injured employee at its Greensburg, Westmoreland Township, headquarters after a strong storm swept in from Ohio and spawned three twisters.

Only, they didn't.

John Rea, regional president at West Penn Power, explained that the company recently held its annual emergency preparation drill, which focuses on testing its storm-restoration process in outages caused by severe weather.

The drill was designed to prepare employees assigned to storm restoration duties and review restoration processes and storm-management tools critical to safety and getting the lights back on quickly.

In the drill, the tornados hypothetically caused severe damage in Allegheny and Westmoreland counties, toppling trees, closing roads and disrupting power to thousands of customers.

“This is a great opportunity for us to practice and sharpen our skills in preparation for thunderstorms and even the occasional tornado as we head into the summer months,” Rea said.

He said the company used the same incident command system employed by federal, state and local governments that coordinates response to major storms or natural disasters.

Rea said the drill improved West Penn Power's ability to specify in greater detail capabilities of the company's secondary locations if the Greensburg headquarters is inoperable.

Another improvement resulting from the drill is the communication process with employees' families when West Penn Power facilities are affected by weather or other disasters.

“Periodic emergency drills are another way we invest in reliability for our customers, in addition to tree trimming and the continuous work we do to harden our electric distribution infrastructure and enhance its resiliency,” Rea said.