State College Still Feeling Affects of Wednesday Night Thunderstorm

More than 120 State College residents who lost power after Wednesday night’s storm were still in the dark Thursday. This morning, West Penn Power crews were still re-wiring the lines on Holmes Avenue. That’s in the College Heights section of town, just north of the Penn State campus. The power cables were torn down when a volatile thunderstorm ripped through the region around 6:30 p.m.

West Penn Area Manager Tom Kearney said crews worked all night and into the morning. Damage from the storm included downed trees and blown out transformers. Crews in College Heights told residents they hoped to have power restored Thursday afternoon.

“There was a lot of tree damage, the winds were pretty strong last night and knocked down a lot of trees,” Kearney said. “Tree limbs did damage to our system.” AccuWeather meteorologists believe the storms pushed out winds of 60 mph, and possibly higher.

At least 13 customers are without power at the Giant Plaza in College Township, Kearney said, and several commercial stores also had no electricity service this morning.

At the height of the storm, at least 22 different areas in Centre County reported power outages. West Penn Power says a total of 678 customers were blacked out.

Fortunately, there are no reports of injuries.

State College Borough tree crews are working to clean up after last night’s damage. Borough officials said two crews have been dispatched to chip brush, in College Heights and the Northeast Highlands neighborhoods. Those areas sustained the most damage. 

Borough staff are compiling a request list for piles of brush that need to be chipped. Anyone who needs Borough services can call 814-234-7135 or email the Public Works Department.

Be sure to check the StateCollege.com homepage for the latest Accuweather forecast.

Watch StateCollege.com’s video of the storm damage: