The late-April storm that cut electricity to over half of the city and killed three prompted a City of Pittsburgh response that was strong on communication, but hampered by power outages at police, fire and EMS stations, officials said Wednesday.

Pittsburgh Bureau Fire Chief Darryl Jones told City Council that the city completed an after-action review of the storm response. In addition to public communication, he identified adaptability as a strength. But outages at facilities, including sheltering centers, were concerning. Officials are now working to better deploy generators, and encouraging individual facilities to buy their own generators in preparation.

Jones’ comments came at council’s first special meeting to review its response to the April 29 storm. Following the storm, Mayor Ed Gainey issued an executive order for a climate-resilient “All-Hazard Mitigation Plan.” Officials said work on that plan is ongoing.

The storm lasted only about 10 minutes, but its 85-mile-per-hour winds:

• knocked out power for many of the region’s hospitals, which had to run on generators
• reduced cellular coverage in the area
• overwhelmed 911, which received 1,000 calls in one minute
• cut power to medical oxygen users, some whom did not have backup generators

The review also identified a need to provide more training for those who restore power lines, who must determine whether or not lines are live. Better identification skills could speed up power restoration. Currently, special coordination with Duquesne Light is required to confirm that a line is de-energized before work begins.

Councilors Theresa Kail-Smith and Bob Charland expressed concern that emergency services did not update council members adequately during the storm. 

“I often struggle in knowing who my point of contact is in an emergency situation,” Charland said. “I just want to know so I know what I’m saying is correct.”

Jones identified a course for public and elected officials to understand the incident command system. 

Allegheny County Hazard Mitigation Plans are updated every five years and signed off by local municipalities, including Pittsburgh. The county began updating the plan last year and it is due in March of 2026. It will be completed internally by the end of September before it is sent to PMA and FEMA for review. 

Gainey’s May executive order calls for a more localized “All-Hazard” Mitigation plan, which will take a long-term approach to disaster management, including flood and landslide prevention. 

The city held a Climate Resilience Forum on May 15 with several department leaders to discuss storm stress points, including the hundreds of fallen trees, which blocked road access and downed power lines. 

Officials are beginning to consider how they will approach planning for high winds, but the city is unlikely to cut down healthy trees in preparation according to Flore Marion, the city’s assistant director of sustainability and resilience.

At the May resilience forum, it was clear that downed trees on power lines were the main culprit for power outages across the city. The All-Hazard Mitigation Plan will balance emergency resilience with year-round livability.

“Pittsburgh is an extremely green city,” said Michael Kelley, the city’s utility coordination arborist, at the May meeting. “We have over 3 million trees — and these trees, they serve as the lungs and kidneys of our city.” 

“Every single one of these trees that we lose makes it harder in the future for us to live in our communities,” Kelley said, pointing to increased temperatures and decreased air quality. “We’re going to see increased localized flooding for every single tree that is lost.”

The plan also formalizes collaboration between EMS and the City Planning Department. Planning is attending EMS meetings and hiring a staff member to work with the medics. 

Council will hold a separate meeting to review the Duquesne Light’s storm response on September 18. 

Hannah Frances Johansson is an editorial intern at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at hannah@publicsource.org.

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Pittsburgh officials look to generators to keep public safety station power on in storms

by Hannah Frances Johansson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
July 24, 2025

<h1>Pittsburgh officials look to generators to keep public safety station power on in storms</h1> <p class="byline">by Hannah Frances Johansson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />July 24, 2025</p> <p>The late-April storm that cut electricity to over half of the city and killed three prompted a City of Pittsburgh response that was strong on communication, but hampered by power outages at police, fire and EMS stations, officials said Wednesday.</p> <p>Pittsburgh Bureau Fire Chief Darryl Jones told City Council that the city completed an after-action review of the storm response. In addition to public communication, he identified adaptability as a strength. But outages at facilities, including sheltering centers, were concerning. Officials are now working to better deploy generators, and encouraging individual facilities to buy their own generators in preparation.</p> <p>Jones' comments came at council's first special meeting to review its response to the April 29 storm. Following the storm, Mayor Ed Gainey issued an executive order for a climate-resilient <a href="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/PAPITT/2025/05/08/file_attachments/3254967/FINAL%20EO%202025-03%20%281%29.pdf">“All-Hazard Mitigation Plan.”</a> Officials said work on that plan is ongoing.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24094713663357-scaled.jpg" alt="A highway entrance is flooded, submerging lanes under water. Overhead signs indicate directions to I-376 West and I-279 North bridges. A speed limit sign and trees are visible." class="wp-image-1321315" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Fort Duquesne bypass is flooded by the overflowing Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)</figcaption></figure> <p>The storm lasted only about 10 minutes, but its 85-mile-per-hour winds:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li><a href="https://www.wesa.fm/environment-energy/2025-04-30/pittsburgh-nws-storm-wind-rain">knocked out power</a> for many of the region’s hospitals, which had to run on generators</li> <li>reduced cellular coverage in the area</li> <li>overwhelmed 911, which received 1,000 calls in one minute</li> <li>cut power to medical oxygen users, some whom did not have backup generators</li> </ul> <p>The review also identified a need to provide more training for those who restore power lines, who must determine whether or not lines are live. Better identification skills could speed up power restoration. Currently, special coordination with Duquesne Light is required to confirm that a line is de-energized before work begins.</p> <p>Councilors Theresa Kail-Smith and Bob Charland expressed concern that emergency services did not update council members adequately during the storm.&nbsp;</p> <p>“I often struggle in knowing who my point of contact is in an emergency situation,” Charland said. “I just want to know so I know what I’m saying is correct.”</p> <p>Jones identified a course for public and elected officials to understand the incident command system.&nbsp;</p> <p>Allegheny County Hazard Mitigation Plans are updated every five years and signed off by local municipalities, including Pittsburgh. The county began updating the plan last year and it is due in March of 2026. It will be completed internally by the end of September before it is sent to PMA and FEMA for review.&nbsp;</p> <p>Gainey’s May executive order calls for a more localized “All-Hazard” Mitigation plan, which will take a long-term approach to disaster management, including flood and landslide prevention.&nbsp;</p> <p>The city held a Climate Resilience Forum on May 15 with several department leaders to discuss storm stress points, including the hundreds of fallen trees, which blocked road access and downed power lines.&nbsp;</p> <p>Officials are beginning to consider how they will approach planning for high winds, but the city is unlikely to cut down healthy trees in preparation according to Flore Marion, the city’s assistant director of sustainability and resilience.</p> <p>At the May resilience forum, it was clear that downed trees on power lines were the main culprit for power outages across the city. The All-Hazard Mitigation Plan will balance emergency resilience with year-round livability.</p> <p>“Pittsburgh is an extremely green city,” said Michael Kelley, the city’s utility coordination arborist, at the May meeting. “We have over 3 million trees — and these trees, they serve as the lungs and kidneys of our city.”&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24094715499337-scaled.jpg" alt="A person in a yellow vest stands near a path next to rising floodwaters, with partially submerged trees and lamp posts visible." class="wp-image-1321313" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Allegheny River floods the North Shore riverwalk outside of PNC Park in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)</figcaption></figure> <p>“Every single one of these trees that we lose makes it harder in the future for us to live in our communities,” Kelley said, pointing to increased temperatures and decreased air quality. “We’re going to see increased localized flooding for every single tree that is lost.”</p> <p>The plan also formalizes collaboration between EMS and the City Planning Department. Planning is attending EMS meetings and hiring a staff member to work with the medics.&nbsp;</p> <p>Council will hold a separate meeting to review the Duquesne Light’s storm response on September 18.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Hannah Frances Johansson is an editorial intern at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at hannah@publicsource.org.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-gainey-climate-resilient-disaster-management-executive-order-april-storm/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1321308&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-gainey-climate-resilient-disaster-management-executive-order-april-storm/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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