Pittsburg, PA
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 that they were 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 PEMA about this,” Allegheny County Emergency Services Chief Matthew Brown said. “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 think 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.
“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.
Vegas allowed two power-play goals on Pittsburgh’s four chances after giving up one on 12 opportunities the previous four games.
“I think we just had poor execution all game long,” Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith said. “Obviously, our penalty kill has been pretty good for us and that wasn’t good enough tonight.”
Rickard Rakell pushed it to 4-0 on another power play at 15:06, stopping a shot from Karlsson with his left skate and wrapping a shot around Hill.
Brazeau scored on a wrist shot from above the right circle at 14:59 of the third period for the 5-0 final.
“Second period, they took it to us,” McNabb said. “We were out of it, basically.”
NOTES: With goals from Kindel, Chinakhov and Brazeau, the Penguins have 73 goals by players in their first season with the team. It’s the most in the NHL this season and 13 more than the next closest (the Anaheim Ducks, 59). … The Golden Knights have been outscored 9-1 in the first and second periods of their first three games out of the break for the Olympics. … Karlsson has 908 points (204 goals, 704 assists), tied with Scott Stevens (908 points; 196 goals, 712 assists) for the 13th-most by a defenseman in League history. … Vegas forward Mitch Marner had a point streak end at six games (seven points; four goals, three assists).
Vegas Golden Knights (28-17-14, in the Pacific Division) vs. Pittsburgh Penguins (30-15-13, in the Metropolitan Division)
Pittsburgh; Sunday, 1 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Golden Knights -149, Penguins +125; over/under is 6.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Vegas Golden Knights square off in a non-conference matchup.
Pittsburgh has a 14-8-7 record at home and a 30-15-13 record overall. The Penguins have scored 197 total goals (3.4 per game) to rank 10th in NHL play.
Vegas is 28-17-14 overall and 14-9-7 in road games. The Golden Knights are 27-6-8 in games they score at least three goals.
Sunday’s game is the first meeting between these teams this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Anthony Mantha has 21 goals and 23 assists for the Penguins. Benjamin Kindel has six goals and one assist over the last 10 games.
Mark Stone has 21 goals and 38 assists for the Golden Knights. Pavel Dorofeyev has seven goals and three assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Penguins: 7-1-2, averaging 4.2 goals, 7.1 assists, 3.3 penalties and 6.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.
Golden Knights: 4-4-2, averaging 3.5 goals, 5.8 assists, 2.6 penalties and 5.8 penalty minutes while giving up 3.3 goals per game.
INJURIES: Penguins: None listed.
Golden Knights: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
PITTSBURGH — Oneil Cruz needs to have a great season for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2026 and his strong Spring Training continued in their most recent victory.
Cruz hit a three-run home run off of Houston Astros right-handed pitcher Jayden Murray in the top of the fifth inning, playing a big role in the 5-2 victory at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Fla.
He waited on a changeup on the second pitch, 85.1 mph over the middle of the plate and sent it 106.4 mph off the bat and 368 feet, scoring both left fielder Billy Cook and third baseman Alika Williams with two outs.
That marks the first home run for Cruz in the Grapefruit League, who has had a great Spring Training so far, slashing .538/.600/.846 for an OPS of 1.446 in five games, with seven hits in 13 at-bats.
Pittsburgh got the win after the top of the sixth inning, after a rain delay ended the game.
Pirates Rookie Pitchers Have Up-And-Down Showing vs. Astros
Right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft made his second start for the Pirates in the Grapefruit League and dominated vs. the Astros.
Ashcraft threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and a walk, while posting two strikeouts for Pittsburgh.
Former Pirates pitcher, right-handed starter Mike Burrows, countered Ashcraft for the Astros. He threw three scoreless innings himself, allowed one hit and a walk and posted four strikeouts.
The Pirates traded Burrows to the Houston Astros in the three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays on Dec. 19, that landed them second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder Jake Mangum and left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery.
Right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler made his second appearance for the Pirates in the Grapefruit League and threw two innings.
Chandler immediately loaded the bases, walking both third baseman Carlos Correa and first baseman Christian Walker, then giving up a single to center fielder Cam Smith.
He came back and struckout right fielder Taylor Trammell and got left fielder Zach Dezenzo to pop out, but gave up a single to second baseman Brice Matthews and a run to the Astros, before ending the inning with a strikeout.
Chandler also gave up a solo home run to Astros third baseman Isaac Paredes, on a slider down in the zone.
He finished his outing with three hits, three walks and two earned runs allowed over 1.1 innings pitched, before left-handed pitcher Derek Diamond got the last two outs of the inning.
Chandler struggled in his first Spring Training start vs. the New York Yankees at LECOM Park in Bradenton on Feb. 23, where he allowed four earned runs over 1.2 innings of work.
The Pirates will need better showings from Chandler, who should serve as a key piece of their starting rotation in 2026.
Other Important Notes from Pirates Victory
The Pirates added two runs in the top of the sixth inning, as Cook hit a single that scored second baseman Nick Yorke and then Williams singled, scoring Cook to make it a 5-2 ball game.
Cook had just one hit in eight at-bats coming into this game and scored twice in the victory, as he walked before the Cruz home run.
Designated hitter Marcell Ozuna led the Pirates with two hits, a good sign for them, as they’ll rely on him greatly for his power and hitting in 2026.
The Pirates are now 7-2 in the Grapefruit League and tied with the Yankees for the top of the standings.
Make sure to visit Pirates OnSI for the latest news, updates, interviews and insight on the Pittsburgh Pirates!
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