About 20,000 Duquesne Light Company customers in Western Pennsylvania were still without power as of Monday at 6 a.m. In a press release, the region’s largest electric utility said all customers should have power restored by 11 p.m. on Tuesday, May 6. Most customers should have power restored before then, according to the release.
In addition to the remaining outages caused by the violent storm that ripped through the area on Tuesday, severe weather on Friday led to an additional 18,000 outages due to falling trees and motor vehicle accidents.
Tuesday’s storm left nearly 325,000 customers without power, and DLC crews — along with about 600 additional contractors and utility workers from other companies — have been working since then to restore power.
During a press update on Friday, the company warned that some power lines may still pose a danger and urged people to remain on the lookout and avoid downed wires.
“This is the time in our collective response efforts when frustrations can run high, patience can be thin, and people can think that the worst has passed, and maybe from a weather standpoint that’s true,” Waller said. “However, hazards remain.”
Meanwhile, local officials are also raising awareness about the need for food among those left without power. The long-term outages have left many of the affected with refrigerators full of spoiled food.
Mayor Ed Gainey said the city is working with County Executive Sara Innamorato’s office to solicit donations from corporations and foundations to support the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and other food pantries. The initiative, which aims to raise $1 million, has already received a commitment of $100,000 from an anonymous funder.
“I think in the coming days and weeks, we’re aware that people will have had to empty the contents of their fridge, and will need some extra resources at the food banks and food pantries to help supplement anything that folks lost,” said county spokesperson Abigail Gardner on Friday.
Gainey said the city is also coordinating relief services with the Red Cross, which has begun supporting senior high rises and other facilities to deliver shelf-stable food.
You can see a map of remaining DLC outages here and a list of storm recovery resources here.
