PITTSBURGH — It was this time last year when unprecedented storms rocked the Pittsburgh region.
More than half a million people lost power and for many, it took several days to get the lights back on.
Not only that, the storms left behind widespread damage.
A year later and people like Andy Hromoko and the Hosanna House are still working to clean up.
“It was completely decimated,” Hromoko said.
Last April’s storms ripped up trees and brush and left what the Hosanna House calls its “outdoor classroom” unusable.
“Our children couldn’t go up there to use it at all,” Hromoko said.
Volunteers helped the Hosanna House collect all that debris at its Sherwood Event Center.
They also cleaned and painted.
All to get the non-profit ready for its annual summer camp.
Duquesne Light assisted by hiring someone to bring in a wood chipper, among other tasks.
“Without Duquesne Light and all the volunteers that come and do this, we just can’t do it. It’s just too cost prohibited to do those kinds of things,” Hromoko said
Channel 11 also spoke with Jeremy Castrodad, who works for Duquesne Light and also volunteers for the company.
He was assessing damage from last April’s unprecedented storm
“I was actually mind-blown at how drastic the storm was,” Castrodad said.
More than half a million people lost power.
It took Duquesne Light 10 days to restore power to all its customers.
Castrodad recalls working long shifts and says they’d do it all over again for their community.
“The damage was widespread. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was a historic storm. We handled it the best we could. We worked long shifts, and we worked many days did our best to get people back to power,” Castrodad said.
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