Wind storm causes several hundred outages, a few minor incidents in Franklin Co.

Despite several power outages across Franklin County, a wind storm that swept through central Pennsylvania otherwise had a small impact on several boroughs in the area. 

A high wind warning was issued over the weekend by the National Weather Service through 1 p.m. Monday, which predicted the region might see wind gusts of up to 60 mph that could blow down trees and hit electrical lines. 

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Todd Meyers, a spokesperson for West Penn Power, said Monday morning that crews were working to restore power to about 500 customers in the area out of 62,000 total customers who had lost it. He added that more than 130,000 had been affected since the wind began Sunday morning, but the company had already helped more than 70,000. Meyers could not say when every customer would receive power again. 

Electrical problems also affected homes in Metal Township, according to Mercersburg's borough manager, Derek Stoy. At 5:30 a.m., he said his own house was without power and Valley Rural Electric had no estimated time as to when it would be turned back on. 

"I think the main issue is if someone gives a timetable, there is no guarantee with the high winds that something else won’t cause it to go back out again," he continued. 

A few homeowners in Chambersburg reported some fallen wires, said borough manager Jeff Stonehill, but each time most were discovered to be for cable television instead of electric. However, Stonehill said a large tree fell in a backyard in the Kenwood section of the borough and damaged an electrical pole, but crews were able to restore electricity to these residents overnight.  

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Even with these power outages, the managers only noted a few other minor problems in their areas. 

Borough manager for Waynesboro, Jason Stains, and Stonehill mentioned the trees, branches and debris that had fallen down. A road was also blocked in Shippensburg after a pine tree fell in a cemetery Sunday evening, according to Shippensburg borough manager, Kevin Plasterer. He said the incident caused an outage for about three hours, and several people had to cut it up to re-open North Prince Street. 

Stoy added the strong wind ripped a double carport from its anchors located to the back of North Main Street in Mercersburg Monday morning, as well. In addition, Stains said a stop sign blew off its pole, but has since been repaired. 

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