Local power companies are bringing in hundreds of contractors, additional staffing and customer service representatives in preparation for the extremely high winds expected to topple powerlines over the weekend.
One week after a windstorm sent objects flying in western Pennsylvania, crews are preparing for another round.
HIGH WIND WARNING: 60 mph gusts, storms and power outages likely Saturday across Pittsburgh area
Duquesne Light Company and West Penn Power are warning customers that outages will be likely.
Workers are being brought in from out of state to help with restoration. They are asking for everyone’s patience ahead of time.
In many situations, they will need to use their buckets to haul up transformers and work on lines which cannot be done that could prolong restoration throughout the weekend.
“We are rewinding the tape, preparing for the same kind of storm we prepared for and fought through last week, this storm is very similar, same conditions the ground is very wet it’s raining today raining tonight, thunderstorms might rain tomorrow, sets up a scenario for trees getting blasted by breezes gusts, 65 mph maybe more. standing in the soup -- so it’s a recipe for bringing down large trees,” said Todd Myers with West Penn Power.
The winds can make the job more difficult for linemen who can not use their buckets in winds stronger than 30 to 40 miles per hour.
“We don’t want that swinging,” said Duquesne Light director of the operations center, Jason Keller. “We want to restore power as quickly as possible but safety needs to come first.”
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