A line of severe thunderstorms evolved into a derecho the evening of April 29, bringing destructive wind gusts across parts of the Ohio Valley and interior Northeast, leading to at least three deaths and power outages for hundreds of thousands. By May 1, at least 200,000 customers — mostly in Pennsylvania — were still without power, down from around 700,000.
A Derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms.
The strongest impacts were reported in southeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, where straight-line wind gusts reached 80 mph — stronger than many low-end tornadoes but across a much wider area. Officials said the storms tore off roofs, uprooted trees in saturated soil and brought down power lines throughout the region.
“The line of storms formed near Indianapolis and continued advancing eastward, bringing widespread tree and power line damage to western and central Pennsylvania,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alan Reppert said. “Wind gusts in some areas were nearly 80 mph. For some communities, this derecho could be a once-in-10-year or even a once-in-20-year event.”
In Pittsburgh, a man was killed after being electrocuted by live wires, according to the city’s public ...
