Some still without power following storm
About 1,600 people were still without power across Washington County Wednesday. According to West Penn Power’s website, the outages were widespread, with larger numbers in Union and Cecil townships.
Union was reporting 254 customers without power, while Cecil still had 194, and Nottingham and Buffalo townships each still had 96 without power.
A storm Sunday brought high winds, reaching 56 mph in Washington County. It brought down trees, utility poles and power lines, leaving tens of thousands of people without power Monday morning.
In Greene County, 400 customers were still without power, and in Fayette, about 370.
West Penn Power spokesperson Todd Meyers said that while 95 percent of their customers have been restored, some Washington County customers will still be without power going into the weekend.
“It was equally bad everywhere,” he said. “We’re now dealing with numerous outages with just one customer or a handful of customers affected. There’s a lot of labor-intensive work to do that takes time, and when you’re done, only a few customers are being restored.”
He said the company was assisted by external contractors from New York, Connecticut, Missouri, Tennessee and South Carolina. They also got help from “sister utilities,” such as Ohio Edison, Penelec and Met-Ed.
Meyers said there are “more than 1,600 people working in some capacity to get the lights back on for our customers.”
West Penn Power is offering free water and ice to customers without power. They can pick it up at Giant Eagle locations in Bentleyville, Bethel Park, Bridgeville, McDonald, McMurray, Monongahela, Washington, Rices Landing, Waynesburg and Uniontown.