UPDATE: As of Monday night, the Pennsylvania Utilities Commission said utility companies across the state were still working to restore power to 146,000 people. See our earlier story below:
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Thousands of utility customers remain without power in Pennsylvania after high winds roared through the state, knocking down trees and power lines.
As of Monday afternoon, Duquesne Light said it was still working to restore power to 34,000 customers in Pittsburgh. In a tweet, the company said it expects the majority of customers to have power restored by late Wednesday night. Duquesne Light also said warming centers will be available in North Versailles, Kennedy, Ross and Collier townships, as well as West View Borough.
The company has also received reports of more than 300 downed wires and 50 downed poles, it said. Duquesne Light says it has 800 employees working around the clock.
The Pennsylvania Utility Commission said at its peak overnight, there were 212,000 outages across the state, with southwestern Pennsylvania getting hit the hardest.
"They seemed to take the brunt of the really high winds and massive trees down," said PUC spokesperson Nils Hagen-Frederiksen.
Many roads in Allegheny County were also closed due to downed wires and trees. The county shared a list of the closed roads via Facebook.
Updated list of peak wind gust reports as of 9 pm Sunday evening. pic.twitter.com/RyOncbrrT6
— NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) February 25, 2019
Wind advisories and warnings remained in effect Monday for most of the state. The National Weather Service notes that the ground is saturated from previous rain and snow melt, making trees and power lines more susceptible to strong winds.
A speed of 61 mph was recorded at the Pittsburgh airport.
*This story was updated at 2:38 p.m. to update the number of customers without power and add more information.
Reporter Amy Sisk contributed to this story.
