Community Corner

Update: Severe Thunderstorm Blows Through the Region

Reports include storm damage on Little Sewickley Creek Road and a transformer that exploded in the Quaker Village Shopping Center.

Thunder crashed and rain poured down Tuesday afternoon, causing downed trees and flooded roadways in the region.

A transformer exploded in the Quaker Village Shopping Center shortly after 2 p.m., near the station, according to emergency officials.

Workers from Duquesne Light Co. are working on the repairs. 

Find out what's happening in Sewickleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Joey Vallarian, Duquesne Light spokesman, said about 12,000 customers were without power as of 4 p.m. 

Storm damage and debris are reported on Little Sewickley Creek Road. District officials sent out a message to parents that buses were canceled this afternoon for the road due to the storm damage and affected students were being held at the school to be picked up by their parents. 

Find out what's happening in Sewickleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Flooded roads and downed wires throughout the North Hills are also being reported in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm.

The National Weather Service upgraded its severe thunderstorm watch to a warning at 1:27 p.m. Tuesday. The warning expired at 2 p.m. A severe thunderstorm watch was lifted—originally, it was set to remain in effect until 7 p.m. for 11 Pennsylvania counties, including Allegheny and Butler.

At the height of the storm, reports of downed power lines and trees were heard on the scanner, along with possible lightning strikes in areas around Allegheny County.

In Wexford, Route 910 and North Chapel Road reportedly had flooding problems. In the West View and Ross Township areas, parts of Route 19/Perry Highway, Babcock Boulevard and McKnight Road were experiencing flooding.

North Hills Patch, through its Twitter updates, reported power outages that included traffic signals on McKnight, Babcock and Siebert.

The National Weather Service reminds motorists not to drive into areas where water covers the road.

"The water depth may be too great to allow safe passage. Move to higher ground," the weather service website states.

 

Here is the forecast from the National Weather Service website for the region:

Tuesday Afternoon: Showers and thunderstorms. Some storms could be severe, with large hail, damaging winds, and heavy rain. High near 84. Southwest wind around 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. 

Tuesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 2 a.m., then a slight chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 60. West wind around 6 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. 


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