Westmorland County residents urged to report storm damage to local emergency management coordinators

MOUNT PLEASANT, Pa. — Severe storms ripped through Westmoreland County on Tuesday and residents are still feeling the impact.

The original Evergreen Drive-In movie screen, built in 1947, is a testament to how strong the winds were on Tuesday.

“One of the neighbors said it lifted up in the air,” said Joe Warren, Owner of Evergreen Drive-In. “It almost looked like, he said, like the Wizard of Oz when the house was flying.”

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It’s just one example of the widespread damage across Westmoreland County from Tuesday’s storm.

“We had approximately 220 downed electrical wires, 116 or so downed trees as of Tuesday night,” said County Commissioner Doug Chew. “There’s likely more that are still coming in as people tell their emergency management coordinators.”

Chew said the 911 center had more than 5,000 calls on Tuesday. That’s five times the normal daily call volume.

“Between 4:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were approximately 400 calls per hour,” Chew said.

Now, as the county continues to clean up the damage, Chew said it’s important to report it as soon as possible to your local municipality’s emergency management coordinator.

This could help the county reach a threshold to declare a countywide emergency and get additional funding.

“That’s the biggest piece of advice,” Chew said. “Opening up an emergency declaration for the whole county could help a lot more than just one person, it would help all of their neighbors and themselves, both.”

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