Butler County 911 flooded with calls on downed trees, wires, and fires during Tuesday storm
Amid thousands of power outages, Butler County Emergency Services was overwhelmed with 911 calls for trees and wires down, cars stuck in wires, and fires due to a severe storm Tuesday evening, April 29.
Amy Dick, of Mars, who experienced the effects of the storm personally when an uprooted tree fell onto her home, said, “I’ve never experienced such force of nature in my life.”
No one was injured when the tree fell on the house and garage on Beaver Street.
As a result, from the hours of 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Butler County’s 911 center received an average of 2.6 calls every minute, according to 911 coordinator Rob McLafferty.
He said the center fielded 20% more calls during that two-hour period of time than it typically handles in a day. On average, operators normally take 260 calls daily.
McLafferty noted that the center was prepared, however, by having more than 50% of its normal staffing levels on hand ahead of the storm.
“Our dedicated staff came in early and stayed late,” he said.
Allegheny County’s 911 center was reportedly down for a period of time, with Butler County receiving an unspecified portion of those calls.
According to West Penn Power, outages on their network in the county peaked at more than 11,000 during the storm. Central Electric Cooperative also reported more than 2,000 additional outages.
Eagle staff writer Hunter Muro contributed to this report.
