Flooding and downed utility lines caused the closure of several roads around Westmoreland County from Tuesday to Wednesday as a storm pounded the region with rain and high winds.
Firefighters from Ligonier and Waterford were dispatched around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to assist a motorist from a vehicle in a flooded area of Route 381 in Ligonier Township. They were able to rescue the occupant of the vehicle, a Westmoreland County 911 dispatcher confirmed shortly before 5 p.m.
PennDOT reported a section of Route 381 was closed because of flooding between Route 30 and Club Stable Road in the township. Also in Ligonier Township, Route 259 was closed from Route 30 to Chrisner Road, because of downed wires.
A section of Ross Mountain Park Road was closed between Shrum Hill Road in St. Clair Township and Lower Club Road in Fairfield Township, because of flooding and downed wires. Holly Place/Hill Churches Road was closed between Route 981 and County Road in Mt. Pleasant Township because of a tree down on wires.
Estimated restoration times for electrical service weren’t immediately available.
Firefighters were kept busy Tuesday and early Wednesday around Westmoreland County, responding to calls including multiple downed trees and utility lines and some flooded basements.
First Energy cited the severe weather as the cause for about 4,000 customer outages in Westmoreland County as of 9 a.m. Wednesday, down from nearly 8,000 outages at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The outages affected about 900 customers in Mt. Pleasant Township, 330 in Mt. Pleasant Borough, 820 in East Huntingdon, 580 in Ligonier Township and about 190 in Unity.
The National Weather Service reported winds reaching 59 mph at about 2 p.m. Tuesday at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity.
