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Hurricane Still Expected, PA In State Of Emergency

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Sandy is back to being a Hurricane, after shortly being downgraded to a tropical storm.

The hurricane is expected to combine with two weather systems and create what some officials are calling a "super storm."

Friday, Gov. Tom Corbett followed suit with many other East Coast states, and declared a State of Emergency for Pennsylvania in preparation for Sandy.

"Be prepared for staying in your home in case you lose electricity and if you haven't replaced the batteries in a year, go get the batteries, go get water, go stock up on some food, but do it not in a rush, you still have some time," Corbett said.

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also said city officials have had regular communication with the National Weather Service. And although the storm isn't expected to come as far West as Pittsburgh, officials are still preparing for severe weather.

"We still do plan on making sure in the event that the storm changes it's path or comes farther west, that we're prepared for it," Ravenstahl said.

Public Works crews already have salt trucks ready and are prepared to close streets if necessary.

Severe Weather is expected early this week on Monday and Tuesday.

Strong winds, rain and flooding are expected for Western Pennsylvania – as well as some wet snow in the Laurel Highlands area.

Local emergency management officials are preparing for severe weather and West Penn Power says outages from the storm are possible and could last a week.

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