SAINT CLAIR, Pa. -- Saint Clair Electric officials said a 12-hour power outage in the borough began with a problem at the borough transfer station where a breaker failed.
The lights went out Wednesday afternoon and did not come back for most people until dawn Thursday morning.
"There was word going around that it could have been three days, but luckily, it came on!" said Barb Gartner of Saint Clair.
Many turned to generators to keep food, drinks and themselves cool.
Others were not so lucky.
"Hot, worried about the freezers thawing out, worrying about my 88-year old mother who is disabled I guess you'd say. She kept waking me up all night long, 'it's hot, I can't get comfortable,'" said Mary Jo Grube of Saint Clair.
Emergency officials set up a shelter at East Norwegian Township Fire Department for those in need.
Stores were dark and traffic lights were out throughout the area.
The school day at Saint Clair Elementary/Middle School was delayed because of power problems, too.
"I had cool rags on me, and it was crazy, it was crazy," said Gartner.
"It's just kind of ridiculous, we pay double the average state power rate but we get two outages a summer and the surrounding towns don't have any issues with keeping the lights on?" said Alex Williams of Saint Clair.