One man was killed Tuesday evening after a fast-moving line of storms downed trees and wires, causing power outages throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Just after 7 p.m., Pittsburgh emergency crews responded to reports of a man electrocuted by live wires in the 1000 block of St. Martin Street in the city’s South Side Slopes. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Pittsburgh Public Safety.
Authorities urged residents to use extreme caution when moving through the city while crews worked to restore services and remove dangerous debris such as downed trees and possible live wires.
Severe thunderstorms raced across the region, downing trees, re-routing traffic and causing widespread power outages.
The initial line of storms came through between 5 and 6 p.m. and spurred severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. On Tuesday night, the National Weather Service couldn’t confirm any tornadoes.
The National Weather Service said to expect another line of storms between 9 and 11 p.m. with winds again reaching 60 to 70 mph.
The highest wind gust recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport was 71 mph, according to the weather service.
Approaching the Pittsburgh area between 9 and 11 p.m.
Could be more damaging winds, with speeds of 60 to 70 mph.
Wind primary threat; potential for small hail.
With first line that came through, highest gust recorded at Pittsburghh International Airport was 71 mph. There was a report of 93 mph in Indiana County, but they are not sure of the accuracy of the handheld device used to measure that.
The storm closed heavily traveled Hulton Road near Eighth Street in Oakmont thanks to a large tree that, according to homeowner Michelle Jesse, was struck by lightning and blocked all lanes of the roadway. Numerous electrical wires and an electrical pole also came down.
“I actually saw it get hit by lightning, she said. “It was a big ball of light and it just went down.”
Onlookers walked to scene at the corner of Hilton and Eighth to snap photos and get a glimpse of the destruction of one of the trademark trees that line Hulton.
Jess has lived at the Tudor-style home since 2012.
As she retreated back to her SUV in the driveway, she just shook her head.
“That is something,” she said.
Oakmont Police Chief Michael Ford said Hulton Road had severe utility damage and may be closed for a day or two.
He said there were multiple power outages but no injuries. About five houses were hit by downed trees, Ford said.
Phyllis Edwards and her three children were in the basement of her Oakmont home on the corner of California Avenue and Fifth Street when her husband texted her, asking if she and the kids were okay. They took shelter there after seeing a tornado warning from the National Weather Service.
“He said the neighbor asked if we were okay…the only reason he would ask if we were okay is if something happened,” Edwards said.
She went outside to see the giant oak tree in her yard uprooted, knocked over and blocking Fifth Street.
An officer stopped by her house and warned her and her children to stay away from the wires the tree took down with it.
“If anyone would put the power back on, they would be live wires hanging in the road,” Edwards said.
Ron Kuhn looked in bewilderment as his car port rested on an electrical pole Tuesday along Milltown Road in Plum.
Kuhn, 68, has lived across the street from his recognizable barn for 17 years but said he’s never expected anything like he saw Tuesday.
“I can’t do nothing. It’s wrapped around it,” Kuhn said as cars slowly passed, careful to drive slowly across a cable wire from Kuhn’s house that lay in the road.
“It was dark as heck. It was the darkest I’ve ever seen.
“What are you going to do? I just don’t know what I’m going to do to get that down.”
In Monroeville’s University Park neighborhood, just south of Boyce Park, residents without power were congregating outside, while the buzzing sounds of chainsaws could be heard coming from various directions.
Along College Park Drive, Mike DeDemonic was watching neighbors chop up a pear tree he had planted 35 years ago that fell onto the front of his house, possibly damaging the porch.
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“It’s going to make the front of the house look a lot different,” he said. “It was good at blocking the sun.”
DeDeomenic described the storm as “about three minutes of wild roaring noise.” While his wife and their dog were hiding in the downstairs game room, he went upstairs and was more concerned with a swaying tree towering over the back of his house instead of the pear tree out front.
“I heard a big pop. Next thing I know the tree came down,” he said.
Nearby on Spartan Drive, a falling tree shattered the back window of a woman’s Jeep, damaged the vehicle’s roof and cracked the windshield. She declined to be interviewed, but felt fortunate she was able to get a tree contractor to help.
Residents of Drexel Drive were taking matters into their own hands. A tree and a utility pole came down across Drexel just off of College Park, blocking the only way in or out for residents of the more than two dozen homes on Drexel. Many residents said they had tried calling Duquesne Light to no avail, but they understood how busy they and other responders were.
Mark Korbar, who lives across from Drexel on Nittany Drive, said he didn’t see a tornado, but, “I heard what sounded like a freight train.”
“I don’t know what came through here,” said Dana Cecere, who lives at the corner of Drexel and College Park drives. “Something came through.”
The service lines to Cecere’s home were down across her driveway, caused by the tree and pole that fell on Drexel. She described what she experienced as “a wall of wind,” which blew away her neighbor’s back yard shed, leaving its contents behind.
Cecere said her fear of lightning caused her to run downstairs. She was worried the wind would rip the roof off the back deck of her house, but it appeared to be intact, which she credited on a “good builder.”
“I thought it was a tornado,” she said. “I never seen one before. The force of the wind to crack that tree, it’s questionable.”
That there was potentially another around of strong storms coming later that night wasn’t welcome news. “That’s a little bit scary,” Cecere said.
Duquesne Light reported more than 231,000 customers without power as of 8 p.m.
They included about 213,000 in Allegheny County, 23,900 in Beaver, 44 in Westmoreland and just three in Butler counties.
FirstEnergy customers who were in the dark included nearly 40,600 in Allegheny County, about 62,400 in Westmoreland County, 29,800 in Washington County, about 11,000 in Butler County, about 6,700 in Butler County, about 19,730 in Armstrong County and 1,700 in Beaver County.
Haley Daugherty, Jeff Himler and Brian C. Rittmeyer are TribLive staff writers. They can be reached at hdaugherty@triblive.com, jhimler@triblive.com and brittmeyer@triblive.com.