Lightning strikes accompanied the storm, which rumbled into the area at about 5 a.m.

"At the height of the storm we were recording 10 lightning strikes a minute,'' said Randy Coleman, area manager for Pennsylvania Power Co.

Mercer was particularly hard hit. "I came through Mercer when all this stuff was heating up,'' Coleman said. "We just had a ton of water everywhere -- an unbelievable amount of water.''

A utility pole in front of the Mercer County Courthouse took a direct hit from lightning and left parts of the courthouse and county jail without power.

"The storm should have waited another two months. Then we would've had our (new) emergency back-up generator up and running," said Commissioner Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman.

A new generator is included in the courthouse renovation plans.

All courthouse computers were down shortly before 10 a.m., as were air-conditioning units for the courtrooms, Brenneman said. Brenneman said Coleman told him power would be restored by 10:30 a.m.

Mercer County Jail lost one-third of its power, said Warden Jeff Gill.

"It isn't affecting us from a security standpoint. We just shut down the computer system," Gill said.

As of mid-morning, close to 1,200 Penn Power customers scattered throughout the county were without power. Coleman reported 390 Farrell customers were without electricity, 200 in Sharon, 370 in Greenville and 400 in Mercer. He estimated most power would be restored by mid-afternoon.

The water gauge at Consumers Pennsylvania Water Co. Shenango Valley Division's Sharon water plant recorded 0.8 inches of rain fell from midnight to 9:30 this morning, the utility reported. While no other water gauge readings were immediately available this morning it was believed Greenville and Mercer got socked far worse than the Shenango Valley.

This morning's storm has added to an already wet and soggy spring. For the year-to-date to May 31, Consumers' said it has recorded 19.61 inches of rain. The normal amount of rainfall over that same period is 14.45 inches.

Pete O'Connell, resource manager at Shenango Lake, said though there have been no impacts from early morning rains, the situation could change later today.

"Sometimes it takes a half a day to feel the impact. We check our pools around 11 a.m. and send the data to Pittsburgh. They may call for an operation to open our sluice gates in order to maintain our present pool."

O'Connell said flooding could depend on upstream and downstream flow and also the amount the rivers have risen down stream and above dams. He said there is no current upstream.

Farrell, Grove City, Sharon and Hermitage street departments each reported no major storm-related problems.

Calls to Roto-Rooter Sewer Service started picking up after 8 a.m., a local spokesman said.

The company uses high-pressure water jets and plumber's snakes to unclog sewer lines that often clog during heavy storms. Those clogs can cause water to back up into basements or prevent water that may have leaked into basements from draining out.

The spokesman said half of the calls this morning in the region were coming from the Butler area and most of the other half were coming from the Shenango Valley.

"Twelve people (Roto-Rooter employees) are out running around right now responding to calls," the spokesman said.