Мощные ливни и микрооборудование в Пенсильвании вызвали наводнения и отключение электричества

BROOKVILLE – Jefferson County dispatchers processed a total of 604 calls to 911 from Friday evening until Monday morning. According to Tracy W. Zents, director of Emergency Services, the majority of these calls were from 7 p.m. on Friday evening when a microburst hit in the Punxsutawney area until early evening on Sunday when torrential rains caused flash flooding throughout the county. “Friday evening, a microburst associated with straight line winds between 60 to 65 mph, hit the Punxsutawney area just as the Festival in the Park was concluding for the evening,” said Zents. “Luckily, there were no injuries, and as I have said before, microbursts can cause more damage and more injuries than a tornado in this part of western PA.” The weeklong extreme heat built up the instability in the air that caused these severe thunderstorms. The weekend storms brought numerous trees and utility lines down all across the county, with the hardest hit areas in the southern part of the county. At one point, most of the Punxsutawney area was without power, with some areas being restored late Sunday, and the rest anticipated to be restored by late Monday. “The continuation of the storms prevented all areas being restored over the weekend,” said Zents. Power interruptions occurred on Sunday during the continuation of storms. With the rise in humidity, and the continuation of instability in the atmosphere, heavy rains occurred on Sunday afternoon causing flash flooding on several roads due to drainage issues and minor washouts. The National Weather Service had warned that rain falling would be at a rate between 2.5 to 3.5 inches per hour. Reports included some homes in the county having basement flooding, with one report of a partial residential garage collapse in Timblin Borough. According to Zents, most of the county fire departments were out handling calls all weekend. And while the majority of these calls were weather related, normal day to day emergency calls were still being processed that included vehicle accidents, medical emergencies and law enforcement related incidents. With the advances in technology and the partnership that Jefferson County has with counties in the Northern Tier, 10 of the 604 calls listed that were processed, were picked up by neighboring 911 centers. According to Chris Clark, deputy director and 911 coordinator, those calls were answered as roll over calls that Jefferson County could not process due to the extreme high call volume. “Clarion, Elk, McKean and Warren picked up on those calls, processed them, and provided the information back to Jefferson County. No calls were lost,” said Clark. “We are extremely grateful for our partnership with the Northern Tier counties for their dedication and teamwork.” Damage assessment is underway with the municipalities. No injuries occurred. As of 11 a.m. Monday morning, a total of around 375 residents were still without power.