Latest news with #windstorm
CBS News
2 days ago
- Climate
- CBS News
Pittsburgh leaders hold hearing on emergency response and readiness for severe weather
The intense windstorm that hit western Pennsylvania in April is still on the minds of Pittsburgh officials and emergency responders. They met for a hearing on emergency response and readiness on Wednesday, when they discussed the challenges they faced and what they're hoping to improve before the next severe weather event. Some emergency officials said what swept through the Pittsburgh region on April 29 was the worst storm they've seen in their careers. The system caused widespread power outages, and many lasted for days. "This storm really only lasted about 10 minutes, was really the duration of this storm to do all this damage," said Alan Hausman with Pittsburgh's Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security. Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Erika Strassburger, who called for Wednesday's hearing, said it was an opportunity to understand how the city prepared, how it responded, what challenges it faced, what lessons were learned and what improvements are necessary moving forward. Emergency leaders shared some problems they faced, including safety concerns with power lines down in fallen trees. "We could not send [Department of Public Works] units out to those areas to start clearing those trees until we knew for a fact deenergized," said Adam Ameel, Pittsburgh's Deputy Emergency Management coordinator. "And it's not just a matter of knowing that they're denenergized, but they're coordinated with Duquesne Light, so they're not reenergized while they're working on them." Phone systems were also clogged that day. "There was mention that our 911 operations were not operational that day, which couldn't be further from the truth. We were completely operational. What had happened was the immense call volume that came through in such a short amount of time overwhelmed the state's 911 phone system, and I've conferred with the PEMA about this," said Chief Matthew Brown of Allegheny County Emergency Services. "We saw over 6,700 calls for service to Allegheny County 911 in an hour. One minute in that hour, we saw over 1,000 calls." There were also high numbers of people needing oxygen. "This medical grade oxygen caught us all off-guard, not thinking that over the years so many people who were reliant on oxygen have converted to these electrically driven oxygen generators," Brown said. "We got a tremendous number of calls of people who were losing their oxygen concentrators, they weren't functioning, they didn't charge their batteries the day before, they had oxygen in those but didn't have regulators for them. What we were able to do was take the oxygen we keep in our mass casualty unit, immediately get those out to those folks and put a rapid response unit together," Hausman said. Officials said they also dealt with power outages at city facilities. "Some of the things that we thing we can improve on, one, is hardening the city's facilities. We had fire departments and fire stations, EMS stations, and police stations out of power for an extended amount of time," said Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire Chief Darryl Jones, who is also the city's emergency management coordinator. "Which we're developing a plan for how we can improve that, whether it is a mission-ready package that we deploy generators to those facilities, or we have actual built-in generators," Pittsburgh's Director of Public Safety Lee Schmidt said. Chief Jones said they did a complete after-action review to identify what worked well and what needs improvement; and they'll be working to make those improvements for the next bad storm. "The goal of this hearing is not only to learn from the storm but to build a stronger, more resilient city and system that protects all Pittsburghers, particularly our most vulnerable neighbors," Strassburger said. Strassburger told KDKA the last portion of the meeting focused on future planning and next steps. She also said Chief Jones would be sending the post-event report to council, clarity around internal communication with council before and during an emergency, and possible emergency preparedness training for council members and staff. Strassburger said Councilwoman Barb Warwick has called for a separate post-agenda hearing about Duquesne Light's response, and that'll happen at a later date.
News.com.au
10-07-2025
- Climate
- News.com.au
Sydney set to face last blast from wild polar weather system
The last of the wild weather is set to hit NSW and the ACT overnight, following polar air that has left massive snowfall and even caused a tree collapse that left one child in hospital. The wind speeds topped 110km/h on a coastal NSW spot, while warnings remain in place throughout the state. Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines said on Thursday the strongest winds would continue to batter NSW. 'A cold front is crossing southeastern Australia and it's got one last sting in the tail in the form of some very strong winds, particularly across NSW.' Parts of the Snowy Mountains, Canberra hills, Central and Southern Tablelands, and coastal areas of NSW including the Illawarra region, southern parts of Sydney and Newcastle were set to cop heavy winds. The winds look likely to finally settle down by midday Friday. The blustering gusts have caused widespread tree collapses and building damage. Since 1pm on Thursday the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) had responded to more than 300 incidents. The wild weather left a 10-year-old boy in hospital after he was reportedly hit by a falling tree at Oatley Public School south of Sydney. There remains a continuing risk of damaging winds into Thursday evening, with speeds of around 100km/h expected. A staggering 111km/h wind was recorded at Bellambi near Newcastle at 12.27pm on Thursday. Advice from the SES remains in place, with people told to move their vehicles away from trees, secure loose items around their property and to stay vigilant and monitor conditions. The weather system bucketed down across South Australia overnight, giving Adelaide its wettest day since January 2024. Massive snowfall was reported in resorts across NSW and Victoria's alpine regions. Falls Creek, in Victoria had 22cm of fresh snow in the past 24 hours, bring the resort's average snow depth to 80cm. 'This storm is really delivering,' The Falls Creek website reads. 'It is still coming down thick and fast.' The Perisher resort in NSW celebrated the 'dumping' of 20cm of fresh snow in the past two days it had received. 'July has officially flipped the switch, and Perisher is set to turn into one giant pow party. 'If there was ever a time to bail on the city and head for the hills, it's now.'
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Wild weather warning for this capital city
The last of the wild weather is set to hit NSW and the ACT overnight, following polar air that has left massive snowfall and even caused a tree collapse that left one child in hospital. The wind speeds topped 110km/h on a coastal NSW spot, while warnings remain in place throughout the state. Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines said on Thursday the strongest winds would continue to batter NSW. 'A cold front is crossing southeastern Australia and it's got one last sting in the tail in the form of some very strong winds, particularly across NSW.' Parts of the Snowy Mountains, Canberra hills, Central and Southern Tablelands, and coastal areas of NSW including the Illawarra region, southern parts of Sydney and Newcastle were set to cop heavy winds. The winds look likely to finally settle down by midday Friday. The blustering gusts have caused widespread tree collapses and building damage. Since 1pm on Thursday the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) had responded to more than 300 incidents. The wild weather left a 10-year-old boy in hospital after he was reportedly hit by a falling tree at Oatley Public School south of Sydney. There remains a continuing risk of damaging winds into Thursday evening, with speeds of around 100km/h expected. A staggering 111km/h wind was recorded at Bellambi near Newcastle at 12.27pm on Thursday. Advice from the SES remains in place, with people told to move their vehicles away from trees, secure loose items around their property and to stay vigilant and monitor conditions. The weather system bucketed down across South Australia overnight, giving Adelaide its wettest day since January 2024. Massive snowfall was reported in resorts across NSW and Victoria's alpine regions. Falls Creek, in Victoria had 22cm of fresh snow in the past 24 hours, bring the resort's average snow depth to 80cm. 'This storm is really delivering,' The Falls Creek website reads. 'It is still coming down thick and fast.' The Perisher resort in NSW celebrated the 'dumping' of 20cm of fresh snow in the past two days it had received. 'July has officially flipped the switch, and Perisher is set to turn into one giant pow party. 'If there was ever a time to bail on the city and head for the hills, it's now.'
CBS News
03-07-2025
- Climate
- CBS News
The show must go on: Bemidji kicks off 81st Water Carnival despite recent destructive storm
See the damage from a 100+ mph windstorm in northern Minnesota See the damage from a 100+ mph windstorm in northern Minnesota See the damage from a 100+ mph windstorm in northern Minnesota Roughly a week and a half ago, Bemidji, Minnesota, was hit with straight-line winds exceeding speeds of 100 mph in a storm the mayor says that will change the city forever. Despite this, its 81st annual Water Carnival begins Wednesday night with a fireworks show. It was a 10-mile swath of straight-line winds through northern Minnesota. "It was an essence of having a land hurricane," Bemidji Mayor Jorge Prince said. The night of June 20 will stick with Prince forever. "Reports we get back now are 9 million trees down in the path of this. That's an astounding number," Prince said. But through each limb and downed power line, Prince and organizers did visualize one of the city's largest summer events, the 81st annual Water Carnival, happening on time. Bemidji, Minnesota, was hit with straight-line winds exceeding speeds of 100 mph on June 20, 2025. WCCO Eva Fisher, who is a part of the Bemidji Jaycees, says there was never a moment they thought about canceling or moving the event. "This is an 81-year-long tradition," Fisher, who also helps plan the event, told WCCO. "Just today we were setting up for the fireworks and it turns out the landing we use, there was no power. We didn't know that 'til this morning. We're very excited. It's a nice distraction from having to cut trees." Fisher and the event team aren't the only ones working out the kinks — businesses are too. The town's Dairy Queen posted on Facebook, saying they're happy to be open for this week's event. "Bemidji might look a little different but we are working hard to reopen to welcome people to our community once again," Prince said. Because, from neighbors helping neighbors, to city and utility workers tirelessly working around the clock, Bemidji says this is what they need: "Bemidji needs you, and Bemidji needs Minnesota and our fellow neighbor states to really keep coming to Bemidji," said Josh Peterson, the executive director for Visit Bemidji. The Water Carnival runs through Sunday. For more information, click here. If you'd like to help, the mayor suggests supporting the United Way of Bemidji Area, as funds will stay local.
Yahoo
02-07-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Powerful windstorm topples dozens of power poles across Las Vegas
A powerful windstorm swept through Las Vegas, toppling dozens of power poles across the city's east side. Gusts of up to 70 mph battered the valley during the sudden monsoon storm on Tuesday (July 1), ripping up trees and plunging thousands of homes into darkness. Footage from the scene shows rows of power poles lying across the road on Tropicana Avenue. According to local media, around 30 poles were snapped or knocked down along a one-mile stretch of Tropicana Avenue, between Sandhill Road and Eastern Avenue. In total, more than 50 poles were damaged across the city, leading to widespread outages that left over 33,000 NV Energy customers without electricity at the peak of the storm.
