Two people were 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.
Details about the second death weren’t released but Allegheny County officials said another person died in the storm.
As of 6:15 a.m. Wednesday, Duquesne Light reported more than 213,000 customers without service, including about 197,000 in Allegheny County. At the same time, an online tracker showed First Energy with 221,400 customers still without power, including about 32,600 customers in Allegheny County and more than 50,000 in Westmoreland County.
On Tuesday night, the region’s 911 centers received 5,000 calls per hour — in some cases 1,000 per minute — because of the storm.
A large swath of destructive wind damage was seen across our area as storms rolled through. In some locations, straight-line winds gusted over 80-90 mph — stronger than many of the smaller EF-0 & EF-1 tornadoes we typically see in this region, but for a much, much wider area. pic.twitter.com/t1J1odjqGz
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) April 29, 2025
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.
Multiple school districts were closed or on two-hour delays on Wednesday, including Fox Chapel Area, Gateway, Franklin Regional, Freeport Area, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Plum and Riverview.
Freeport Area, Kiski Area and New Ken-Arnold school districts were on a two-hour delay. For the latest in school delays, click here.
Forest Hills Mayor Frank Porco declared an emergency in the borough because of the downed trees and power lines and asked residents to refrain from non-essential travel.
Severe thunderstorms raced across the region, downing trees, rerouting 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 highest wind gust recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport was 71 mph, according to the weather service.
Thousands were still without power Wednesday morning.
The storm closed heavily traveled Hulton Road near Eighth Street in Oakmont thanks to a large tree that, homeowner Michelle Jesse said, 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 to snap photos and get a glimpse of the destruction of one of the trademark trees that line Hulton.
Jesse 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.
Hulton Road had severe utility damage and may be closed for a day or two, Oakmont police Chief Michael Ford said.
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 OK … the only reason he would ask if we were OK 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 carport 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 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.
“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 gameroom, 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 backyard 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’ve 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.
Categories: Local | Regional | Top Stories | Weather
