CENTRE COUNTY — A powerful storm system that swept through Centre County on Tuesday, April 29, left a trail of destruction, causing extensive power outages and road closures due to downed trees and power lines.
At the peak of the storm, approximately 46% of Centre County residents were without electricity. As of Friday afternoon, May 2, about 3,310 West Penn Power customers remained without service, a significant decrease from the initial 36,000 outages. First Energy, the parent company of West Penn Power, has deployed hundreds of workers, including out-of-state crews, to expedite restoration efforts.
The storm’s high winds, reaching up to 80 mph in some areas, uprooted trees and downed power lines, leading to numerous road closures. Notable closures included Route 26 between Whitehall Road and Bristol Avenue in Ferguson Township, Route 144 in Potter and Spring Townships and Fox Hollow Road in Patton Township. While most roads have since reopened, some closures persisted into the weekend as cleanup operations continued.
In response to the widespread outages, several community resources were made available. Residents without power could have obtained free water and ice at Giant supermarket locations in State College and Bellefonte. Charging stations were set up at the College Township and Patton Township meeting rooms, as well as at various fire companies and EMS stations throughout the county.
The storm also impacted public services. The State College Area School District was affected due to power outages while the Centre County Courthouse conducted hearings virtually. The Centre Area Transportation Authority implemented detours on several bus routes due to road obstructions.
The Centre County Board of Commissioners took time Tuesday, May 6, to recognize the efforts to combat the storm and thank them for their professionalism during the storm.
During the storm, Centre County 911 answered over 1,500 calls in one hour.
“I’ve heard such great feedback from the community about how responsive Centre County 911 was during this crisis. We haven’t seen anything quite like this scale over this large of a land area and the intensity of it as well as some of the real hazards in terms of the number of down power lines and poles down across roads,” Commissioner Amber Concepcion said at the meeting.
“It really was a dangerous situation,” she emphasized.
Commissioner Steven Dershem also thanked Centre County 911 for their efforts during the storm. “1500 calls in 60 minutes with a handful of folks taking those calls … that’s a monumental task,” Dershem said.
As Centre County continued to recover, officials urged residents to exercise caution around downed power lines during storms and to report any hazards to local authorities. Cleanup crews worked diligently to restore normalcy, some working 16 hour shifts, as the area recovered from one of the most severe storms in recent memory.
Commissioner Dershem took time to thank the line workers that helped during the crisis.
“I think we’d be amiss if we didn’t recognize the electrical crews that came from all over to help us out,” he remarked.
