Published Thursday, May 30, 2002
MERCER COUNTY
Wednesday night storm leaves 1,200 without powerPennsylvania Power Co. crews were kept busy in the wee hours this morning as a rumbling storm left 1,200 customers without power throughout Mercer County.
Half of the outages were in the Shenango Valley, centered in Sharpsville and Hermitage, with a few in Sharon, said Randy Coleman, area manager for Penn Power. Other outages were scattered with heavier concentrations in Greenville, Hadley and as far north as Conneaut Lake.
Most of the damage was due to lightning strikes hitting transformers and poles. Coleman said power had been restored to all but 50 customers by 8:45 a.m. and the utility expected those customers to have power later today.
"We were still getting reports of a few outages this morning as people were waking up and found they didn't have power,'' Coleman said.
To report an outage, call Penn Power toll-free at: 888-LIGHTSS.