Allegheny County 911 dispatch center sees high call volume following severe storms
County 9-1-1 averaged more than 5 times their amount in a single hour
YEAH, GUYS. WELL, THE COUNTY GIVING US AN INSIDE LOOK AT JUST HOW DAMAGING AND SEVERE YESTERDAY’S STORM WAS. THEY SAY THAT YESTERDAY’S CALL VOLUME TO 911 WAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST SINGLE DAY VOLUMES THEY’VE SEEN IN A WHILE 5600 CALLS TO 911 WERE RECEIVED BETWEEN 5 P.M. AND 6 P.M. YESTERDAY, 5600. THIS IS FIVE TIMES GREATER THAN THE SAME HOUR WITHOUT A STORM. THE COUNTY SAYS. IN TOTAL, THE 911 CENTER RECEIVED 9300 CALLS THE ENTIRE DAY. THAT’S TWO TIMES GREATER THAN THEIR NORMAL AMOUNT ON A REGULAR DAY. ALL 130 PLUS MUNICIPALITIES SAW SOME SORT OF DAMAGE, BUT THEY SAY THE HARDEST HIT AREAS WERE THE CITY OF PITTSBURGH, MOON TOWNSHIP, MOUNT LEBANON, PENN HILLS, FOREST HILLS, ROSS, HAMPTON AND SHALER. AND NOW THOSE CLEANUP EFFORTS ARE BEGINNING. AND DUQUESNE LIGHT ANNOUNCING TODAY THAT RESTORATION TIME FOR THOSE CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER IS ABOUT 5 TO 7 DAYS. BUT THEY DID SAY THAT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES AND HELP ARE ON THE WAY. WE HAVE RESOURCED ADDITIONAL EXTERNAL. CONTRACTORS AS OF THIS MORNING. WE AT 6 A.M. DEPLOYED 70 ADDITIONAL CONTRACTORS TO SUPPORT THE RESTORATION EFFORT. BETWEEN NOON AND TWO. AS WE SPEAK. ANOTHER APPROXIMATE 200 RESOURCES WILL BE ARRIVING AND ONBOARDING AND PUT TO WORK THIS AFTERNOON. NOW, THEY DID ANNOUNCE THAT EVEN MORE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES WILL BE DEPLOYED TOMORROW, BUT JUST SOON HERE WE’RE GOING TO HEAR FROM GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO AND LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AUSTIN DAVIS AND MAYOR ED GAINEY, WHO ARE EXPECTED TO SURVEY THE DAMAGE IN AND OUT OF ALLEGHENY COUNTY. WE’LL BE SURE TO UPDATE YOU BOTH ON AIR AND ONLINE AT DOT COM. REPORTING
Allegheny County 911 dispatch center sees high call volume following severe storms
County 9-1-1 averaged more than 5 times their amount in a single hour
Updated: 8:33 PM EDT Apr 30, 2025
Allegheny County emergency officials gave an inside look at just how severe and damaging Tuesday’s storms were, telling Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the call volume to 911 was one of the highest call volumes they’ve ever seen in a single day”Calls to 911 received between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. yesterday (was) 5,600. This is five times greater than the same amount without a storm,” said Chief Matt Brown, Department of Emergency Services. The county said in total, the 9-1-1 center received 93-hundred calls the entire day. That’s two times greater than the normal amount on a regular day. All 130 municipalities saw some sort of damage, but they said Wednesday the hardest hit areas were the city of Pittsburgh, Moon Township, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Forest Hills, Ross, Hampton and Shaler. Those cleanup efforts are now only just beginning, and Duquesne Light announced that restoration time for all those customers still without power is about five to seven days. But they did say that additional resources and help are on the way. “We have additional external contractors as of this morning. We deployed 70 additional contractors to support the restoration effort between noon and 2 p.m. Another approximate 200 resources will be arriving in onboarding and being put to work this afternoon,” said John Hilderbrant II, VP of operations from Duquesne Light.Chief Brown also urged residents to try and limit calls to 911 services to only essential emergencies.”Try to limit your call to true emergencies. Do not call 911 to ask when the power is coming back on, we got a lot of that overnight,” said Brown.
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. —Allegheny County emergency officials gave an inside look at just how severe and damaging Tuesday’s storms were, telling Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 that the call volume to 911 was one of the highest call volumes they’ve ever seen in a single day
“Calls to 911 received between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. yesterday (was) 5,600. This is five times greater than the same amount without a storm,” said Chief Matt Brown, Department of Emergency Services.
The county said in total, the 9-1-1 center received 93-hundred calls the entire day. That’s two times greater than the normal amount on a regular day.
All 130 municipalities saw some sort of damage, but they said Wednesday the hardest hit areas were the city of Pittsburgh, Moon Township, Mt. Lebanon, Penn Hills, Forest Hills, Ross, Hampton and Shaler.
Those cleanup efforts are now only just beginning, and Duquesne Light announced that restoration time for all those customers still without power is about five to seven days. But they did say that additional resources and help are on the way.
“We have additional external contractors as of this morning. We deployed 70 additional contractors to support the restoration effort between noon and 2 p.m. Another approximate 200 resources will be arriving in onboarding and being put to work this afternoon,” said John Hilderbrant II, VP of operations from Duquesne Light.
Chief Brown also urged residents to try and limit calls to 911 services to only essential emergencies.
“Try to limit your call to true emergencies. Do not call 911 to ask when the power is coming back on, we got a lot of that overnight,” said Brown.
