Updated 10:47 a.m. March 17
Thousands of West Penn Power customers in Centre County were without electricity on Sunday into Monday morning as heavy storms caused downed trees and power lines.
At 5 p.m., during the peak of the outages, more than 11,000 homes and businesses were without power in the county, which was under a tornado watch throughout the afternoon.
The largest number of outages were in State College Borough, where 3,159 West Penn customers were without power. College Township had 1,968 outages, Spring Township had 1,402 Bellefonte had 1,014 and Benner Township had 862, ranging from a quarter to more than 40% of customers in each of the municipalities
Outages were reported throughout the county. As of 10 p.m. more than 8,000 locations were still without power, and as of 10:30 a.m. Monday more than 3,600 were still waiting for power to be restored. West Penn Power did not yet have estimated times for restoration for the remaining outages.
Bellefonte Area School District schools were closed on Monday because of ongoing power outages. State College Area School District operated on a two-hour delay, with the exception of Ferguson Township Elementary, which was closed because it was without power.
According to dispatch reports, fire companies have responded to hazardous conditions for downed trees and wires on roads and traffic lights out in locations including Bellefonte Borough, Benner Township, Boggs Township, Burnside Township, College Township, Ferguson Township, Halfmoon Township, Huston Township, Patton Township, Penn Township, Philipsburg Borough, Potter Township, Rush Township, Snow Shoe Township, Spring Township, Union Township, Walker Township and Worth Township.
Centre County 911 fielded more than 350 calls — nearly 90 per hour — between 3 and 7 p.m., and emergency dispatchers in Blair and Huntingdon counties took additional calls for Centre County during that time.
“Thank you to the first responders who were patient as we worked through the chaos,” Centre County 911 wrote in a Facebook post. “Much of the county is without power due to the resources that are stretched thin, attempting to repair the vast damage our county suffered in just a few hours. Please be patient with them as they work to replace poles and wires to restore power to your area.”
In Centre County, West Penn Power customers should report power outages online, by calling 1-888-544-4877 or by texting OUT to 544487.
While power outages should be reported only to your electric company, downed power lines should be reported by calling 911, according to West Penn Power. If you encounter a downed power line, do not touch it and stay at least 30 feet away.
Severe thunderstorms moved through the area on Sunday afternoon, producing heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 60 mph.
A tornado watch was in effect until 7 p.m. Sunday for Centre County and much of central Pennsylvania, according to the National Weather Service. A watch means tornados are possible in the designated area. A warning, which was briefly in place for northwestern Centre County around 2:30 p.m., is issued if a tornado is sighted or indicated by radar.
