Power outage update: Pittsburgh locations to be restored by late Tuesday, other areas sooner

While Duquesne Light anticipates restoring power to certain municipalities by about mid-day Monday, Pittsburgh residents without electricity might not have service restored until late Tuesday, a week after destructive storms hit the region.

In an update Sunday, Duquesne Light said areas expected to be restored by 12:30 p.m. Monday include all of Beaver County and many municipalities in southeastern Allegheny County, including Baldwin Borough, Clairton, Duquesne, Homestead, Jefferson Hills, McKeesport, Munhall, North Versailles, Pleasant Hills, West Homestead and West Mifflin.

As of 5:30 a.m. Monday, Duquesne Light was reporting about 21,000 customers without electric service. Most of those, just over 20,000, were in Pittsburgh.

Elsewhere in Allegheny County, the North Hills areas of Allison Park, Gibsonia and Glenshaw together accounted for about 3,400, while about 840 customers were without power in Monroeville.

Duquesne Light identified the areas hardest hit in terms of overall damage as the city of Pittsburgh, Coraopolis, Gibsonia, Monroeville, Allison Park and Carnegie. Because of the extent of the damage, the company said it expects those communities to be restored by 11 p.m. Tuesday.

Since the storm last Tuesday, Duquesne Light said it has restored service to about 310,000, or 96%, of its customers.

First Energy’s outages were down to just over 1,200 Monday morning. That included over 650 in Westmoreland County, 90 in Indiana County, 134 in Armstrong County, 169 in Butler County, 6 in Allegheny County, and just 2 in Washington County.

Outages in Westmoreland were heaviest in Loyalhanna, 244; Allegheny Township, 29; Bell, 24; and Washington Township, 18.

Armstrong County communities with the most still out were Kiski, 71, and South Buffalo, 12.

First Energy is offering free water and ice to customers without power. A list of participating retailers is available online.

School districts announcing plans

Power outages and road closures forced many school districts to close.

Districts that were still affected began announcing their Monday plans on their websites and social media channels Sunday.

• After earlier saying that most of its schools were ready to reopen, Shaler Area announced Sunday evening that it will transition to remote learning for the day Monday.

The district said it has lost all internet and phone service across all of its schools. The outage poses a safety risk because the district is unable to operate fire alarm systems or contact emergency services from its buildings.

Remote learning will follow the regular school schedule and not the two-hour delay used during weather events, the district said. Staff can be contacted by email.

Absences will be excused for students without power or internet access.

• Hampton plans to reopen all schools Monday. (Previously, the middle school was set to be closed, but power was restored late Sunday.)

Internet and phone service, however, will not be available in Hampton schools Monday because of damage to the public fiberoptic cables throughout the county, the district said.

• Students in the Fox Chapel Area School District will participate in remote instruction Monday, the district announced Sunday night.

That decision was made, the district said, because many roads in the district are still closed or impassable. Many of the roads have trees down or leaning on wires and wires completely down in all six of the district’s communities, creating safety hazards.

Additional information for families and students is available on the district’s website.

• The Cornell School District will have a remote learning day on Monday.

The district said it was still without power and no work crews from Duquesne were on its campus. The utility told the district its power would be restored by Tuesday evening, according to the notice from Superintendent Aaron Thomas.

Students and families will be notified of their schedule and expectations by email. Elementary students who need devices can pick them up between 7:30 and 9 a.m. at the elementary office entrance.

• Plum School District announced Sunday night that, with power fully restored, all of it schools will operate on a regular schedule for in person learning Monday.

While most roads have been cleared, some areas may still have debris or be impacted by utility crews. Drivers will try to maintain regular pick-up and drop-off times, but the district asked families for patience and understanding as they navigate any remaining obstacles.

Severe storms possible Monday

The region’s run of bad weather might be continuing.

There is a chance for severe thunderstorms Monday afternoon and evening, from 2 to 10 p.m., the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh said Sunday.

Damaging winds and large hail will be the main threats, and an isolated tornado is possible.

Flooding also is possible because of the heavy rainfall over the past few days.