Leetsdale Endures Storm Damage, More Widespread Power Outages

Clinton Miller sat on the porch of his Leetsdale home, surrounded by family members who were there to celebrate his 26th birthday.  

Flickers of light glowed from several candles, helping to illuminate the porch at the home on Ferry Street. It wasn't from a birthday cake. Hours earlier, the family lost power, leaving Miller and his relatives celebrating in the dark.

The outage at 6:30 p.m. Monday probably wouldn’t have been such a downer for Miller’s birthday celebration if the family hadn’t experienced a power outage exactly on July 11, his actual birthday. Besides that, after a long day at work, he wasn't up for dealing with the summer heat.

“No air conditioning is never fun,” he said.

Despite the darkness, his mother, Tracy McKee, found a bright side to the outage.

“Nobody’s on the computer. Nobody’s watching television. We’re having good old family time,” she said.

Their home in Leetsdale was one of thousands in the region that lost power Monday night after thunderstorms rolled through the region.

Around 7,700 Duquesne Light customers, including residents in Quaker Heights and other neighborhoods throughout Leet Township, were without power at the height of the storm.  Fire officials at  said there were a few reports of minor flooding in Sewickley.

Joey Vallarian, spokesman for Duquesne Light, said fewer than 100 customers remained without service this morning after yesterday's thunderstorms. Those customers are expected to have power restored no later than noon today, he said. The areas hit hardest by the storm were , , Moon, Baden, Liberty and Port Vue.

In Leetsdale, whole neighborhoods were dark and downed trees and road debris littered area roadways, telling the tale of a storm that had come and gone.

Leetsdale Borough Manager Paul Scimio said the would be closed Tuesday. A date for resumed operations will be announced. 

"The park has a lot of damage from the storm, and it is not safe at this time," Scimio said. 

in the Quaker Village Shopping Center remained without power after 9 p.m., while electricity remained on at , GetGo and in the plaza.

Customers continued to shop at the grocery store, while a group of employees removed meat, diary products and other perishables from the freezers. The store also lost power last week.

Crews blocked one lane of traffic where debris covered northbound Route 65 between Village Drive and Ferry Street.

Farther down 65, Ambridge Police Chief Jimmy Mann said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation workers were called to help when 20 inches of water flooded the road under the Port of Ambridge bridge. A clogged storm drain in the 400 block of Route 65 near Old Economy Village in Ambridge also caused the roadway to flood, Mann said.  

Fallen branches from a large cracked tree that remained standing in Henle Park were cordoned off with yellow police tape.

“When you live in a community with so many trees, it’s bound to happen,” Tracy McKee said.

On Beaver Street, Jim Kelly of Leetsdale sat on his candlelit porch, taking a drag from a cigarette. His power had been out for about three hours -- again, the second outage in three weeks.

“It sucks,” he said, in a matter-of-fact tone.

McKee said the storm hit like a microburst, sending water gushing above the curb and down the street. She pointed out that debris had filled catch basins and possibly caused some of the flooding.

Vallarian said crews were restoring power by removing trees and repairing downed wires. He said he was not sure when power would be restored to all customers because damage to the electrical system was still being assessed. He estimated many customers would see restoration overnight.

Residents are asked to report outages by calling Duquesne Light at 1-888-393-7000 or by visiting www.duquesnelight.com.