Tens of thousands of Western Pennsylvanians still without power 48 hours after deadly storm – CBS NEWS

Tens of thousands of people are still without power 48 hours after what Duquesne Light called an “unprecedented storm” on Tuesday. 

Duquesne Light says at one point, 325,000 homes were without power. About 200,000 customers have since had their power restored, the company said in an update on Thursday afternoon. Duquesne Light says it could take five to seven days before all customers have their electricity restored.

Duquesne Light has had 22,000 reports of hazards like downed poles, wires and trees. The company says it has rallied its entire workforce, bringing in 400 additional workers to help bring the power back.

“We are dedicated to working tirelessly to safely and quickly restore power to all of our customers because we understand without power, it impacts your life and livelihood in significant ways,” said Duquesne Light president and CEO Kevin Walker. 

Pittsburghers try to make do without power 

It’s been 48 hours since the storm rolled through and thousands are still living without the basic necessities, including power. Power lines still lay in a yard along Beaver Grade Road and across the street, a snapped tree can be seen resting on a utility pole. It’s a common sight across Western Pennsylvania, a sign that recovering from this storm will take time. 

“It does make you appreciate the fact of having the conveniences of electricity,” said Jerry Bunda of Moon Township.

Bunda is like tens of thousands of others across the Pittsburgh area. He has been without power since the unprecedented storm blew through the region on Tuesday. He admits it’s been challenging and describes functioning without power as sort of “roughing it.”

“I just went and got a bunch of ice to keep all medicines and things like that, that you don’t really think about those kind of things. You’re used to cold drinks, well, you haven’t had that,” he said. 

Bunda, along with many of his neighbors in his Moon Township development, have been forced to get out of their houses to do things like charge their phones. But even that comes with obstacles, as it seems everyone else amid this crisis is also on the hunt for a power outlet.

“It’s been hard to do pretty much anything. We’ve had no food, no hot water, which is very rough. We’ve been having to go out and eat every night,” said neighbor Noah Palm. 

On a normal day, restaurants, convenience stores and gas stations can get busy, but since Tuesday, there have been traffic jams trying to get to those places. And once you’re there, you’re greeted with a line wrapped around the building.

“Food is probably the biggest issue right now. Everyone is scrambling for it,” Palm said. 

One dad was having lunch with his son and his friend at Sheetz. The boys go to McCormick Elementary in Moon Township. While the dad acknowledges the hurdles his family has dealt with this week, the two 8-year-olds aren’t complaining. 

“It’s been kind of fun cause I get to play with my friends a lot because we don’t have school,” one said. 

Alicia McCann of North Fayette found refuge with her 7-year-old daughter at Panera Bread. She says her family lost all of their food, so grilled cheese was on the menu for lunch for the pair. But she’s not harping on the negatives. She said it has forced kids in her neighborhood to get outside and detox.

“I want the power back and I miss doing my hair, I will say that, but we will adjust,” McCann said with a laugh. 

People hunt for ice to stop food from spoiling  

As thousands continue to wait for their power to be restored, many have been on the hunt for ice to try to salvage any food left in their freezers.

“I stopped a couple places down farther in Aspinwall, they didn’t have any. I’m just trying to find some on my way home from here so that I can keep my refrigerated items nice and cool,” said Wilkins Township resident Joyce Gratton.

Gratton and many others said it’s difficult to find businesses that aren’t sold out of ice.

Home City Ice in Cheswick told KDKA-TV that this is the biggest demand for ice that they’ve seen in over a decade.

“We’ve had a huge uptick in sales. I mean, it’s busier than the Fourth of July, for it being May. So we’re just trying to do our best to get deliveries out as soon as we can,” said Clint Sponseller, a zone manager for Home City Ice.

Sponseller said their warehouse lost power on Tuesday night from the storms, but so far, they’ve managed to keep it freezing inside to keep the ice from melting. He said the downfall is that they can’t make more ice without power.

“The freezer is, you know, maintaining freezing right now, but it’s getting down there where we want to get through that ice and then start bringing ice in from Youngstown,” Sponseller said.

He said they have half of their supply left and are bringing in four to six loads of ice from Youngstown a day to keep up with demand. Each ice cooler that customers see outside of businesses holds around 430 bags of ice, Sponseller said.

“The stores down here go through that in three hours and then they’re calling again this morning, and they’re out again this morning. They’re going through thousands of bags of ice in a matter of 12 hours,” Sponseller said. “You know, we’ve had some pretty hot summers. Some pretty hot Fourth of Julys. And this is definitely the craziest demand on ice, you know, within 24 hours I’ve seen.”

KDKA-TV saw people stockpiling on ice on Thursday in Harmar, Cheswick and Blawnox.

“I’m just trying to save my stuff,” Gratton said.

“We’re doing our best. We’re trying to get as much out as we can, as fast as we can,” Sponseller said.

He said Home City Ice supplies ice to businesses throughout Cheswick and Harmar.

For anyone looking for ice, he said you can’t buy it from the warehouse.

“We’ve had several people show up. Unfortunately, we can’t sell anything out of the plant right now because we don’t have any power and typically, we only deal with selling to the local companies that we sell to. Otherwise, we’d have everybody come in the plant trying to buy the ice, whereas, you know, we sell it to our retail customers, and then they can buy from there,” Sponseller said.

Cleanup continues in Westmoreland County

Around Westmoreland County, there is still a ton of damage from Tuesday evening’s storm, and a lot of people are still without power. But crews from all over the country are in the Pittsburgh area to help. 

In shopping plazas across Westmoreland County, utility crew trucks arrived overnight from places like Illinois, Indiana, New York and New Jersey. All of them were on site, looking to restore power to people.   

West Penn Power said of the 180,000 customers the utility serves in Westmoreland County, some 60,000 lost power during the storm on Tuesday. And as of Thursday morning, some 16,000 were still without power.

One of those 16,000 is Jessica DeAngelo, who is not only dealing with the power outage, but she now has to contend with over 11 different trees that were brought down on her property by those 90 mph straight-line winds.

“These trees are huge, they are massive,” DeAngelo said. “The previous owner put them in when they bought the home, so it’s been a long time.”

“They are going to sit here for a bit because I know there are so far many more people that need the time and energy of all the workers that are working out now to restore the power and get other trees cut that are across roads and other things,” she added. 

DeAngelo says that she and her family are safe right now, but for many in this area, they are not only struggling with power outages and property damage, but some are just in need of a hot meal.

Enter Sean Jefairjian, the owner of A Slice of New York pizza restaurant on Route 22 in Murrysville. Jefairjian says that any members of the surrounding community who are still without power and need a meal can stop in for a free pizza on them, no questions asked.

“I think at any point, when somebody or a business is doing well, I think it’s our duty to give back to the community,” Jefairjian said. “Because people are spending their hard-earned money here every single day. And listen, our pizza is not the cheapest one out there. It is one that is more on the expensive side, and we know that. So, when we have an opportunity to give back to those that are supporting our business, I feel like it is our duty to do so.”

As cleanup is still underway across the entire Pittsburgh region, officials are asking people to have patience. And if you do still have problems with your power, they are asking you to please contact your utility company.

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