Last weekend, high winds and severe thunderstorms ravaged Slippery Rock and Butler County causing mass power outages, tearing off roofs and toppling trees in their paths.
The storms are estimated to have knocked out power to more than 17,000 homes. Three days after the worst of it, thousands still reported being without power. West Penn Power reported around 3,300 outages, Penn Power reported about 480 and Central Electric Cooperative reported more than 150.
Almost a week later, First Energy still reports 14 customers without power, according to PowerOutageUS.
Authorities also ordered several road closures, and pictures of fallen trees in roads and yards circled social media.
Dan Winger, whose home sits on Route 8 between Slippery Rock and Harrisville, had a tree partially on his lawn almost fall on his house.
The tree did not break but had its root system pulled out of the ground by wind instead. Winger was in the living room while the kids were on the side of the house closest to the tree.
“I was sitting there,” he said, “and I heard this WOOOSH, and I said, “what are you guys doing back there?’”
His son shouted that the tree fell, and Winger went in to make sure he had heard correctly.
The tree detached an electric line from the house, but they never lost power. The power company went out and had it reattached to the correct spot within two days.
Winger also lost internet and called Armstrong to restore it, but they would not come out to until the tree was gone as it poses a safety concern. Winger decided to shut off the internet for now as an adjuster could not come out for another week.
Local businesses also had damage control to manage.
In Harrisville, Hughes Penn Gold Ice Cream was without refrigeration and had to either sell or move much of their stock.
A Facebook post on April 2 asked for the support of the community as they offered deals to bring in customers. Some community members offered generators in the comments, and the shop closed early that day.
In Slippery Rock, North Country Brewing Company had a tree fall on their porch temporarily stalling business.
A tree on SRU’s campus also fell on the McKay Education Building.
