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Centre County officials praise 911, first responders after storm overwhelmed dispatch
Summary
Centre County commissioners and emergency staff described a multi‑day response to a fast, damaging windstorm that generated a record surge in 911 calls and widespread outages; county leaders said they will review surge capacity and coordination with utilities.
Centre County officials on Tuesday credited 911 dispatchers, local volunteer fire and police departments and out‑of‑state electrical crews after a severe windstorm produced a surge of emergency calls and widespread power outages.
The most urgent detail: “we took about 1,500 calls in an hour,” Kira, a Centre County 911 dispatcher, told the Board of Commissioners during a recognition item. County leaders said all dispatch positions were filled and administrative staff made hundreds of outage notifications to West Penn Power and other utilities.
The storm — described by commissioners as a long front of wind shear affecting roughly the western two‑thirds of the county and…
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