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closeA severe thunderstorm that made its way across much of Pennsylvania on Thursday afternoon caused power outages, minor flooding and road closures across portions of Centre County.
Provided photo
Carl Pillot canoes through the playground of Radio Park Elementary School following torrential rains Thursday evening.
On U.S. Route 322, the westbound lanes were blocked at about 4 p.m. when a tractor-trailer truck hauling a load of lumber crashed.
The road was shut down for several hours, eventually re-opening with one lane by 8 p.m.
State College police said no details were available as of press time Thursday evening, although no one was thought to have been injured.
Peter Jung, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in State College, said the rapid but heavy rains caused several reports of minor street flooding in the area as rainfall amounts exceeded an inch and a half.
In Patton Township, emergency workers closed the outside lanes of North Atherton Street in the 1700 block because of standing water on the roadway. Several sinkholes were also reported in the township along Oakley Drive.
Emergency works in other areas also reported minor problems with standing water on roadways and downed trees.
State Police at Rockview said the storm contributed to several minor traffic crashes in the county, but details were not immediately available.
The winds and rains also made for a busy night for Allegheny Power, which reported several localized power outages in Bellefonte, Pine Grove Mills and State College.
In all, more than 500 customers were affected, a company spokesman said. Power was restored to many of the affected areas by 8:30 p.m. and was expected to be completely restored by 10 p.m., the company reported.
The power outage also knocked out traffic signals at four locations on College Avenue, police said, and emergency crews were asked to direct traffic.
The worst of the storm passed through the area in the early evening, said Jung, who added that despite the recent wet weather the state remains at about average levels of precipitation for the year.
“Actually just slightly below average rainfall — but if you call me (Friday) I’ll tell you we are above average,” the meteorologist said.
(Thanks to reader Howard Pillot for sending in the photo of his son, Carl, in the canoe through the playground of Radio Park Elementary School. Send any photos of the storm to cdtnewstips@centredaily.com.)
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