Sewickley cancels 'Night Out' event, Blawnox reschedules

Sewickley Police Department’s inaugural attempt to join a national effort supporting community engagement and police partnerships has been canceled.

The borough’s National Night Out was set for Tuesday night along Nevin Avenue.

Officers hoped to mingle with families and provide safety information and pass out plastic badges, stickers and sunglasses to children.

Sgt. David Yurkovac, event organizer, said they made the difficult decision to cancel the event due to Tuesday’s severe storms.

“It’s unfortunate and disappointing to miss out on an opportunity to be with the public and celebrate a night like this promoting community awareness,” Yurkovac said.

“We considered the public’s safety due to the storms. We didn’t want to chance anybody being out there and a bad storm came through. We’ve been checking the forecasts. We’ll be planning it again next year.”

National Weather Service Pittsburgh issued a flash flood warning for the Pittsburgh, Monroeville and Plum areas until 10:30 p.m.

Blawnox reschedules

Sewickley was not the only community to cancel its ‘Night Out’ as severe thunderstorms impacted many Western Pennsylvania communities Tuesday evening.

Blawnox rescheduled its event for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13 at Blawnox Community Park.

It was being organized by the borough charity Best of Blawnox.

“We at Best of Blawnox are extremely disappointed that our National Night Out was rained out, but are excited to be able to reschedule,” said member Katie Specht-Coban. “This is a wonderful community event and we didn’t want everyone to miss out on it.”

Rescheduled activities include a dog walk and ice cream social.