Outages Tie Up Traffic; National Weather Service Says More Storms Possible

Motorists on Cranberry’s main corridors were tied up in traffic Thursday evening after a storm knocked out power on Route 228 and Freedom Road for at least an hour.

Police helped direct traffic at areas where traffic signals did not work. The Cranberry Mall on Freedom Road and businesses along Route 228 also lost power.

Assistant township manager Duane McKee said downed power lines along Peters Road and Sandalwood Drive caused the outages around 6 p.m. Power was restored to those areas around 7:30 p.m., he said.

A outage map by FirstEnergy Corp. showed there were still at the most 500 customers in the Cranberry, Harmony, Zelienople, Evans City and Mars without power as of 9:56 p.m.

Most of Western Pennsylvania remains under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service also issued a special weather statement for the Greater Pittsburgh area -- including Butler County -- on a string of strong thunderstorms that is moving across the area.

At 8:38 p.m., Doppler Radar in Pittsburgh indicated strong thunderstorms extending from five miles northeast of Saxonburg to McKeesport and moving east at 30 mph. These storms are expected to produce heavy downpours, hail, and wind gusts of up to 40 mph, according to the weather service.

Report hail, strong winds or wind damage to the National Weather Service by calling 1-877-633-6772