Severe storms swept through Butler County Tuesday afternoon resulting in power being knocked out to many residents.
The storms hit the city of Butler shortly after 2 p.m. bringing heavy rain and knocking out power to multiple traffic lights on Route 68 Evans City Road, the Butler Farm Show, and the Butler Township Municipal building. A pole on fire at Greenwood and Benbrook may be the cause.
According to West Penn Power, nearly 8,000 residents are without power as of just before 4 p.m. including over 2,500 in Butler Township, over 1,800 in Cranberry Township, and nearly 1,400 in Connoquenessing Township. Estimated time of restoration is between 5 and 6 p.m.
Central Electric Cooperative is reporting just over 500 outages in Butler County with the majority of those in Lancaster Township.
Emergency response crews from around the county are busy with flooded roads. A portion of Route 19 in Cranberry was closed in both directions from Mashuda Park to Progress Avenue for a time as a result of wires down.