At 95, Gerry Mohney of Lower Burrell does just fine living by herself.

But the spry woman needed a little help Wednesday evening when a powerful storm blew down trees that blocked the front and back doors of her Russell Drive home.

The storm knocked out her telephone service, so she yelled for someone to call her daughter to at least tell her she was OK.

“That’s when the Good Samaritan showed up. I saw a man in a pickup truck. At first, I thought it was my grandson.”

It wasn’t. It was Calvin Rowles of Lower Burrell, who saw the trees piled up against Mohney’s house.

“I just went over to see if she was OK. (The debris) was all against the house. I had to crawl under it to get to the door,” Rowles said Thursday.

He let Mohney borrow his cellphone to call her daughter.

Mohney’s was one of several homes in Lower Burrell damaged by Wednesday’s fast-moving storm.

As of late Thursday afternoon, West Penn Power was reporting 3,112 customers still without power, most of whom were in the Lower Burrell, Vandergrift and Harrison areas, though pockets of outages remained in the West Deer and Fawn areas.

In Harrison, Heights Plaza was without power for most of the day Wednesday.

Immediately after the storm, West Penn was reporting about 29,000 customers without power, most of those in Westmoreland County.

Todd Meyers, the senior communications representative at West Penn, said storms moved through much of the western part of the state Wednesday. He noted areas in Allegheny in Westmoreland counties appear to have been hardest hit.

He said most of those affected would have power by Thursday night, but some remote areas might not be restored until today.

“The weather has been getting a lot more active,” he said. “Monitor the weather, be vigilant, and be ready.”

Meyers said West Penn has a playbook for dealing with widespread storm damage.

“There is a very set procedure,” he said, explaining that the amount of time it takes to repair damage to power lines depends heavily on the size of the area served by the line, the amount of damage and whether or not the company has the right to clear out trees that have damaged power lines.

The company prioritizes 911 calls and clearing out stray wires on main roads, first assessing if the wires are “energized” or “de-energized.”

After clearing out stray wires, the crews move to repair damage in larger areas.

Because the area of the damage from Wednesday’s storms is so large, a few of the nine companies under First Energy Corp. have sent out crews to help. These crews come from Penn Power, Penelec and independent contractors looking to help the affected areas.

Meyers said the necessity for power restoration after storms has increased drastically over the past five or six years.

On Virginia Drive in Lower Burrell, a large tree landed on two homes, smashing a large hole in the roof of at least one. The other home had so many branches still on its roof Thursday it was impossible to see how much damage the roof sustained.

One homeowner, who declined to be identified, said he was home when the storm hit.

“It was scary. It was so fast. Bang. The tree was down.”

Although the tree had the power lines to his home pinned to the ground, miraculously, the homeowner said he still had electric service.

“Not for long, though. They’re going to have to cut it to get the tree out.”

The man said his insurance company was paying for him to stay at a hotel while his home is fixed.

Back on Russell Drive, Kat Bercel was taking a break from yard work Thursday. She lives next door to Mohney, yet Bercel’s home sustained no damage other than a smashed fence. Still, her yard was littered with branches.

“I planned to do yard work today anyway … but not this much.”

Across the street, Mary Eler said she was surprised to see the extent of damage.

“I didn’t really hear it. I mean, it was loud, but not like the freight train that people describe. I was surprised to see the damage when I came outside to call the power company.”

Eler’s home lost a few shingles from its roof and the power lines to it were laying on the ground; otherwise, the dwelling escaped major damage.

Mohney said she didn’t really hear the storm, either.

“I felt a ‘thud,’ and it jolted me. Then, I felt another ‘thud.’ ”

She said she’s thankful that no one was hurt and she’s grateful to Rowles for helping her out. After she called her daughter, family members were able to cut away enough limbs so she could get out her front door. She spent Wednesday night with family but was back in her home, getting estimates to have the trees cleared, on Thursday.

Myranda Fullerton, meteorologist with the National Weather Service Pittsburgh, said Thursday a downburst most likely caused the widespread damage in Allegheny County.

She said a downburst occurs when there is dry air in the atmosphere and an updraft develops.

That air eventually comes crashing down, bringing rain and possibly hail with it, and fiercely hits the ground in a “pancake-like splatter,” Fullerton said.

There also was some evidence of straight-line winds moving southeast across Allegheny County on Wednesday evening.

The weather service ruled out any tornadoes in the county.

“There was no indication of rotation couplets that would support the need for a tornado warning,” Fullerton said.

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