A violent line of storms swept through Pennsylvania Tuesday evening with winds strong enough to bring down trees, poles, and lines across the Pittsburgh region. The local utility called it an unprecedented event in its history, with more than 400,000 homes losing power across the area and thousands of individual damage sites to repair. Tragically, lives were lost, including from downed live wires.

Straight-Line Winds, Hurricane-Scale Damage

Derechos are long-lived windstorms that can produce hurricane-force gusts across hundreds of miles. They strike with far less warning than a hurricane, often just hours, which means preparation cannot wait for the forecast. The homes that kept power in Pittsburgh this week were the ones with automatic backup already in place.

Preparing for Wind Events

• Inspect your standby generator and confirm automatic start and transfer operation.
• Run a test cycle so you know the system works before you need it.
• Keep natural gas or propane systems connected and serviced.
• Consider whole-home backup from Generac or Kohler. When outages last days, seamless power protects food, sump pumps, and daily life.

Stay Informed

Treat every downed line as energized and deadly, and report them immediately. Follow your utility’s restoration updates as crews work through the damage.