As Pittsburgh area recovers from storm, may take 5-7 days to restore power to all customers
By Christopher Ayers, Chris Potter, Julia Zenkevich, Tom Riese
April 30, 2025 at 6:19 AM EDT
A severe thunderstorm blasted through Western Pennsylvania early Tuesday evening, leaving damaged buildings, felled trees and power lines, and causing the deaths of at least two individuals in Allegheny County.
And while it took just minutes for the storm to rage across the county, it may take up to a week for utility service to be fully restored for many residents.
John Hilderbrand II, Duquesne Light’s vice president of operations, said that while the utility was still assessing the extent of the damage, it would take an estimated 5 to 7 days for service to be restored. Further storms were possible Thursday, he told reporters at an Allegheny County press conference, and "that could impact that 5-to-7-day restoration period."
"This is a natural disaster, folks, to a level that we don't see very regularly," said Matt Brown, the county's chief of Emergency Services. "We must work together to recover and to be resilient for the next time." And while Thursday's weather is not expected to be as severe, "The next time could be as early as tomorrow."
Brown said some of the county's hardest hit communities included the city of Pittsburgh, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Forest Hills, Ross, Hampton and Shaler. "But almost all the 130 municipalities have received some type of damage," he said.
Tuesday’s storm did “significant damage throughout our city,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Wednesday morning, and efforts to restore power and clean up are “gonna take time. We're just asking the people of our city to just bear with us for a little bit.”
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato declared a county-wide emergency Wednesday afternoon, as the region recovers from Tuesday’s strong storms. Innamorato says the emergency declaration will allow for more collaboration across municipalities — some of whom have already declared emergencies locally — as cleanup continues in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro — speaking at the county emergency services office — pledged state resources for local cleanup and recovery efforts.“We have numerous PennDOT assets on the ground that have been out inspecting bridges and roadways to make sure they are not compromised, so it’s safe for motorists, safe for pedestrians and others,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, or PEMA, is tracking possible potentially inclement weather Thursday.
The governor also assured residents that Duquesne Light is working as fast as possible to return power to affected homes. As of about 6 p.m. Wednesday, nearly 140,000 Allegheny County customers remained without power between Duquesne Light and West Penn Power, the region’s two largest electric utility companies.
When asked if the state knew of the total cost of damage from the storm, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said as of Wednesday evening it’s unclear, but he added that ensuring people are safe and restoring power is the administration’s top priority.
“Once we get past that phase there’ll be, I’m sure, an assessment from state, county and local levels on the damages that have taken place and what needs to be taking place going forward,” said Davis, a lifelong Mon Valley resident.
According to city public works director Chris Hornstein, the department has received reports of at least 180 fallen trees on road right-of-ways, many of which took out power lines on their way down. The full contingent of public works employees will be “working around the clock” to clear debris, he said.
Damage elsewhere in the county was also severe. Duquesne Light reported some 22,000 hazardous situations — including power lines down and electric poles broken — county wide shortly after the storm. County 911 operators logged some 5,600 calls between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday evening — five times the usual number.
A tree on top of a car on Beechwood Boulevard, following a severe storm on Apr. 29, 2025 (3024x4032, AR: 0.75)
Brown said the last time the county saw such activity was when the Liberty Bridge caught fire in 2016. But while the system strained under that level of activity, he said it didn't fail.
"Was 911 bogged down at times? Absolutely, given the numbers that I just gave you. But we were never down. Our systems operated," Brown said. Some of the delay stemmed from the phone network itself being overwhelmed, rather than problems with the county's own operations. Those encountered delays, he acknowledged, but "our systems operated and they functioned."
The county medical examiner's office said the two deaths caused by the storm involved a city of Pittsburgh resident who was electrocuted and a Ross Township resident fatally struck by a falling tree. County Executive Sara Innamorato and other officials urged residents to remain cautious.
"If you go outside the sun is shining but that can be deceptive," Innamorato warned. "There are still downed trees and live wires across the county. And obviously these are incredibly dangerous situations that should be left to professionals. Please do not try to move a wire or clear a roadway by yourself. ... If you're out and about, please proceed with extreme caution."
Innamorato also warned that food in a full freezer could go bad after 48 hours, while food in a half-full freezer would start to turn in a day. Meat and dairy products, as well as leftovers, should be tossed after four hours, she said.
Though numerous Pittsburgh Public Safety buildings lost power and a fallen tree did significant damage to an ambulance station, the “core functionalities of our public safety responses,” like the 911 dispatch system, remain intact, said Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak. The storm has not impacted the city’s ability to respond to calls or send emergency personnel.
(3024x2946, AR: 1.0264765784114054)
Pittsburgh Public Safety director Lee Schmidt said the Pittsburgh Marathon, scheduled for this weekend, is expected to go on as planned.
Even so, officials said the work ahead of them was daunting.
As of 1:50 pm. Wednesday morning, Duquesne Light Company reported more than 195,000 customers without power in Allegheny County, as well as more than 13,000 outages in Beaver County.
In addition, FirstEnergy Corp. — which operates locally as West Penn Power — reported around 82,000 customers without power throughout Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
But repair work was already underway by Wednesday morning, with trees being cleared and service being restored. And officials said they were not caught unaware by the storm. Brown said officials had begun "preparing for the impending weather days before yesterday," though he admitted "no one knew for sure the intensity and the impact."
Many residents may have been less prepared for the storm's rapid arrival.
Weather forecasts earlier in the day had telegraphed the possibility of inclement weather, but most residents’ first indication as to just how severe the evening’s storms would be came in the form of an emergency alert from the National Weather Service pushed to their mobile devices around 4:45 p.m.
“SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING in effect for this area until 5:30 PM EDT for DESTRUCTIVE 80 mph winds,” the alert read. “Take shelter in a sturdy building, away from windows. Flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS Pittsburgh account on X began reposting dispatches from local residents. One post claimed to show a fallen limb catching fire on an electric transmission wire in Peters Township in Washington County. Another purported to show large, uprooted trees and heavily damaged vehicles in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood.
In the Beechview neighborhood, the storm’s strong winds appeared to have ripped the roof off of the locally renowned Fiori’s Pizzaria on West Liberty Avenue.
Demand for emergency services throughout the region spiked as the tempestuous weather system roiled the evening rush hour.
Downed trees at 21st and Jane streets on the South Side. (2048x1536, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Crews continued to work late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning to restore power and clear hazards created by the storm, which Duquesne Light called “unprecedented in DLC’s history." In a Tuesday night press release, the region’s largest electricity provider — which serves more than 600,000 in Western Pennsylvania — urged customers to “stay away from downed wires, broken poles and other safety hazards.”
“Crews are working around the clock to assess the damage and establish an estimated time of restoration for all customers,” the statement read. “Safety is DLC’s number one priority so response times and damage assessments may be delayed to prioritize the safety of our workers.”
According to the National Weather Service, a chance of showers and thunderstorms is likely to persist through early Wednesday morning before clearing, giving way to sunny conditions before a chance of showers and storms return on Thursday and Friday.
And while it took just minutes for the storm to rage across the county, it may take up to a week for utility service to be fully restored for many residents.
John Hilderbrand II, Duquesne Light’s vice president of operations, said that while the utility was still assessing the extent of the damage, it would take an estimated 5 to 7 days for service to be restored. Further storms were possible Thursday, he told reporters at an Allegheny County press conference, and "that could impact that 5-to-7-day restoration period."
"This is a natural disaster, folks, to a level that we don't see very regularly," said Matt Brown, the county's chief of Emergency Services. "We must work together to recover and to be resilient for the next time." And while Thursday's weather is not expected to be as severe, "The next time could be as early as tomorrow."
Brown said some of the county's hardest hit communities included the city of Pittsburgh, Moon, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Forest Hills, Ross, Hampton and Shaler. "But almost all the 130 municipalities have received some type of damage," he said.
Tuesday’s storm did “significant damage throughout our city,” said Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey on Wednesday morning, and efforts to restore power and clean up are “gonna take time. We're just asking the people of our city to just bear with us for a little bit.”
Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato declared a county-wide emergency Wednesday afternoon, as the region recovers from Tuesday’s strong storms. Innamorato says the emergency declaration will allow for more collaboration across municipalities — some of whom have already declared emergencies locally — as cleanup continues in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Shapiro — speaking at the county emergency services office — pledged state resources for local cleanup and recovery efforts.“We have numerous PennDOT assets on the ground that have been out inspecting bridges and roadways to make sure they are not compromised, so it’s safe for motorists, safe for pedestrians and others,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro said the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, or PEMA, is tracking possible potentially inclement weather Thursday.
The governor also assured residents that Duquesne Light is working as fast as possible to return power to affected homes. As of about 6 p.m. Wednesday, nearly 140,000 Allegheny County customers remained without power between Duquesne Light and West Penn Power, the region’s two largest electric utility companies.
When asked if the state knew of the total cost of damage from the storm, Lt. Gov. Austin Davis said as of Wednesday evening it’s unclear, but he added that ensuring people are safe and restoring power is the administration’s top priority.
“Once we get past that phase there’ll be, I’m sure, an assessment from state, county and local levels on the damages that have taken place and what needs to be taking place going forward,” said Davis, a lifelong Mon Valley resident.
According to city public works director Chris Hornstein, the department has received reports of at least 180 fallen trees on road right-of-ways, many of which took out power lines on their way down. The full contingent of public works employees will be “working around the clock” to clear debris, he said.
Damage elsewhere in the county was also severe. Duquesne Light reported some 22,000 hazardous situations — including power lines down and electric poles broken — county wide shortly after the storm. County 911 operators logged some 5,600 calls between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesday evening — five times the usual number.
A tree on top of a car on Beechwood Boulevard, following a severe storm on Apr. 29, 2025 (3024x4032, AR: 0.75)
Brown said the last time the county saw such activity was when the Liberty Bridge caught fire in 2016. But while the system strained under that level of activity, he said it didn't fail.
"Was 911 bogged down at times? Absolutely, given the numbers that I just gave you. But we were never down. Our systems operated," Brown said. Some of the delay stemmed from the phone network itself being overwhelmed, rather than problems with the county's own operations. Those encountered delays, he acknowledged, but "our systems operated and they functioned."
The county medical examiner's office said the two deaths caused by the storm involved a city of Pittsburgh resident who was electrocuted and a Ross Township resident fatally struck by a falling tree. County Executive Sara Innamorato and other officials urged residents to remain cautious.
"If you go outside the sun is shining but that can be deceptive," Innamorato warned. "There are still downed trees and live wires across the county. And obviously these are incredibly dangerous situations that should be left to professionals. Please do not try to move a wire or clear a roadway by yourself. ... If you're out and about, please proceed with extreme caution."
Innamorato also warned that food in a full freezer could go bad after 48 hours, while food in a half-full freezer would start to turn in a day. Meat and dairy products, as well as leftovers, should be tossed after four hours, she said.
Though numerous Pittsburgh Public Safety buildings lost power and a fallen tree did significant damage to an ambulance station, the “core functionalities of our public safety responses,” like the 911 dispatch system, remain intact, said Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak. The storm has not impacted the city’s ability to respond to calls or send emergency personnel.
(3024x2946, AR: 1.0264765784114054)
Pittsburgh Public Safety director Lee Schmidt said the Pittsburgh Marathon, scheduled for this weekend, is expected to go on as planned.
Even so, officials said the work ahead of them was daunting.
As of 1:50 pm. Wednesday morning, Duquesne Light Company reported more than 195,000 customers without power in Allegheny County, as well as more than 13,000 outages in Beaver County.
In addition, FirstEnergy Corp. — which operates locally as West Penn Power — reported around 82,000 customers without power throughout Allegheny, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
But repair work was already underway by Wednesday morning, with trees being cleared and service being restored. And officials said they were not caught unaware by the storm. Brown said officials had begun "preparing for the impending weather days before yesterday," though he admitted "no one knew for sure the intensity and the impact."
Many residents may have been less prepared for the storm's rapid arrival.
Weather forecasts earlier in the day had telegraphed the possibility of inclement weather, but most residents’ first indication as to just how severe the evening’s storms would be came in the form of an emergency alert from the National Weather Service pushed to their mobile devices around 4:45 p.m.
“SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING in effect for this area until 5:30 PM EDT for DESTRUCTIVE 80 mph winds,” the alert read. “Take shelter in a sturdy building, away from windows. Flying debris may be deadly to those caught without shelter.”
Shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS Pittsburgh account on X began reposting dispatches from local residents. One post claimed to show a fallen limb catching fire on an electric transmission wire in Peters Township in Washington County. Another purported to show large, uprooted trees and heavily damaged vehicles in Pittsburgh’s Point Breeze neighborhood.
In the Beechview neighborhood, the storm’s strong winds appeared to have ripped the roof off of the locally renowned Fiori’s Pizzaria on West Liberty Avenue.
Demand for emergency services throughout the region spiked as the tempestuous weather system roiled the evening rush hour.
Downed trees at 21st and Jane streets on the South Side. (2048x1536, AR: 1.3333333333333333)
Crews continued to work late Tuesday and into Wednesday morning to restore power and clear hazards created by the storm, which Duquesne Light called “unprecedented in DLC’s history." In a Tuesday night press release, the region’s largest electricity provider — which serves more than 600,000 in Western Pennsylvania — urged customers to “stay away from downed wires, broken poles and other safety hazards.”
“Crews are working around the clock to assess the damage and establish an estimated time of restoration for all customers,” the statement read. “Safety is DLC’s number one priority so response times and damage assessments may be delayed to prioritize the safety of our workers.”
According to the National Weather Service, a chance of showers and thunderstorms is likely to persist through early Wednesday morning before clearing, giving way to sunny conditions before a chance of showers and storms return on Thursday and Friday.