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Thousands without power after storms tear through Pittsburgh area

By WPXI.com News Staff
By WPXI.com News Staff

PITTSBURGH — Strong storms and flooding rains on Wednesday caused damage and power outages that continue Thursday in southwestern Pennsylvania communities.

UPDATE 11:15 a.m.: Duquesne Light’s website is now showing about 1,700 outages. West Penn Power’s website is also showing that thousands of outages remain.

UPDATE 6:20 a.m.: Duquesne Light said crews restored power to more than 28,000 customers overnight. About 4,500 customers are still without power in Allegheny and Beaver counties, and they are expected to have it restored by 11 p.m. Thursday -- although many will be restored sooner.

At the height of Wednesday’s storms, about 32,000 customers lost power, the company said.

UPDATE 4:15 a.m.: Thousands of people in southwestern Pennsylvania are still without power Thursday morning, and that includes hundreds in Edgewood.

Edgewood was hit particularly hard by Wednesday’s storms. Sidewalks were torn up, poles were split and trees were brought down.

On Thursday morning, a fallen tree was blocking South Avenue and West Street. Washington Avenue had downed trees, branches and power lines.

Other streets in the area also still had debris scattered along them Thursday morning.

UPDATE 11 p.m.: The strong storms left a trail of damage behind them. Hard hit areas included Wilkinsburg, Edgewood and Bridgeville among others.

Edgewood was dealing with sidewalks torn up, trees blown down, roads blocked and debris tossed everywhere.

“A lot of water. A lot of rain. Then we noticed the tops of the trees were really swaying. Then branches started to come down. That’s when we realized this is something more than just a conventional storm,” said Frank Ferraro who lives in Edgewood.

In Bridgeville, several homes were evacuated as a precaution due to rising flood waters.

Neighbors thankful storms weren't worse as Edgewood takes pounding

UPDATE 10:30 p.m.: Officials with Duquesne Light Company said on Twitter they expect to have power restored by 11 p.m. Thursday at the latest to all impacted customers. Most customers will have power restored before then, however.

UPDATE 8:25 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Indiana and Westmoreland counties.

UPDATE 7:38 p.m.: A new Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for extreme southern Greene County. The line of showers and storms is moving from the southwest to the northeast and may impact areas for time to come tonight.

UPDATE 7:35 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Greene, Fayette and Washington counties.

UPDATE 7:23 p.m.: A new Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Washington and Fayette counties.

UPDATE 7:20 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Allegheny and Washington counties. This includes the areas of Baldwin, Whitehall, McKeesport, Bethel Park, South Park, Clairton, Thomas, Gastonville and Courtney.

UPDATE 6:41 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Fayette County.

UPDATE 5:45 p.m.: The Flash Flood Warning has been allowed to expire. A Flood Advisory remains in effect until 7:15 p.m. for portions of Allegheny County.

More than 20,000 Duquesne Light customers were without power at the height of the storms.

UPDATE 4:37 p.m.: Evacuations are underway in Bridgeville due to flooding along Baldwin Street, according to the police department.

Evacuations underway on Baldwin Street flooding at the intersection of Baldwin and Jane way below the beer warehouse!

Posted by Bridgeville Police Department on Wednesday, July 7, 2021

UPDATE 4:31 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Butler and Armstrong counties.

UPDATE 4:23 p.m.: A new Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Beaver and Lawrence counties.

UPDATE 4:02 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Butler County.

UPDATE 3:54 p.m.: A new Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Allegheny County.

UPDATE 3:51 p.m.: Allegheny County officials report there are multiple vehicles stuck in high water in the area of Thompson Run Road and Rodi Road.

UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Allegheny, Armstrong, Butler and Westmoreland counties.

UPDATE 3:40 p.m.: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of Allegheny and Washington counties until 4 p.m.

UPDATE 3:37 p.m.: The Boyce Park, Settlers Cabin Park and South Park Wave Pools are closed due to the storms pushing through. Additionally, the Move in the Park event at Hartwood Acres is also canceled.

UPDATE 3:30 p.m.: A Flash Flood Warning has been issued for parts of the area.

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Additionally, the National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for nearly the entire region as the threat for storms with strong winds, heavy rains and frequent lightning is possible.

Original weather report: A few storms could be strong, with damaging winds and heavy rainfall. Storms will be scattered, so not all locations will see rain and storms.

If you want to receive alerts about weather, download our Severe Weather Team 11 app.

The return of unsettled weather is due to a front approaching the area. It will stall to the north of the region in the second half of the week. This will give the area a better chance to see more widespread showers Thursday, and a few storms are possible.

There will be rainfall potential of 1-2 inches through the weekend.

Stay with Severe Weather Team 11 for the very latest on the unsettled weather this week.

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