Thousands In Lancaster County Still Without Power In Aftermath Of Sandy

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Creeks and rivers are rising, roads are closed and thousands of people still are without power, but Lancaster County awoke today relatively unscathed from Sandy.

The storm dumped anywhere from 2.5 to 5 inches of rain on the county and unleashed steady winds of 30 to 40 mph, with gusts of up to 50 mph.

About 5,800 people were without power in scattered locations from West Cocalico to Drumore townships early today, down from about 8,500 earlier in the day.

At sunrise, about 40 roads were closed, mostly due to downed trees and utility poles.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/767458_Thousands-here-still-without-power-here-in-aftermath-of-Sandy.html#ixzz2AnbC94A8

Sandy’s Lehigh Valley Impact: Two Deaths, Power Outages, Damaged Trees, Closed Roads

Hurricane Sandy left about 400,000 homes and businesses in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos regions in the dark and without as many trees and has been blamed for the death of a 17-year-old Wind Gap boy and a Berks County man.

Robert Mills of 81 Eighth St. died in Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest after crashing an all-terrain-vehicle into a fallen tree about 9:30 p.m. Monday in Plainfield Township, Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim reported. Grim said Mills was thrown off the ATV when he drove into the tree which had fallen on W. Center Street near Route 33, and he suffered fatal head injuries.

A fallen tree also caused the death of a 62-year-old Berks County man Monday night.  The Berks County coroner’s office said Gerald Witman was killed when a tree fell on his home in Pike Township near Boyertown,

Local officials did not report any significant damage to buildings or public structures except for three house fires Monday night in Buck County in the 1300 block of Old Bethlehem Pike near Quakertown and in Tinicum Township and Chalfont.  Though it was not immediately clear if they were linked to the storm, an emergency radio dispatcher said no injuries were reported in the fires.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-superstorm-sandy-allentown-lehigh-valley-storm–20121030,0,2995804.story

Storm Knocks Down Trees, Power Lines

Trees fell, fires ignited and power lines came down Sunday as Berks County was hit by a thunderstorm that swept across the state bringing heavy winds, rain and lightning.

The heaviest part of the storm passed through the county between 5 and 6 p.m. It was followed by a spate of radio traffic from the 9-1-1 center dispatching emergency responders to deal with reported fallen trees around the county, and one case of a tree catching fire after it was struck by lightning, according to dispatchers.

The violent weather was caused by cool air hitting the hot and humid air that had been sitting over Berks the last few days, AccuWeather forecaster Erik Pindrock said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=406413

Potter County Woman Among 2 Dead After Intense Storms

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Potter County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PHILADELPHIA, PA (AP) — Authorities say a woman has been killed by a tree felled by powerful storms that left tens of thousands of customers without power, mostly in western and central Pennsylvania.

The Potter County coroner says 66-year-old Linda Button was killed Thursday evening in Genesee Township. That’s about 150 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, near the New York border.  State police in Coudersport expect to release more details later Friday.

First Energy Corp. reported about 70,000 customers without power on Friday morning, with the worst problems in Butler County, north of Pittsburgh, and Cambria County, east of the city.  Thousands more outages were reported by PPL Corp. in central Pennsylvania.

In New York City, the storm is blamed for killing a 61-year-old man who was struck by collapsing scaffolding outside a Brooklyn church.  Police say lighting brought bricks down onto the scaffolding.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/07/storms_in_pennsylvania.html#incart_river_default

Irene Causes Damage In The Hylton State Forest aka Pottstown

Sixth Ward Councilor and Man of the People Jody Rhoads was out and about this morning assessing storm damage in our fair borough.  Here are some photos Jody took around Pottstown showing the tree damage caused by Hurricane Irene.  Some of it is extensive.  Notice the curb tree damage.  Many thanks to Councilor Rhoads for sharing his photographs with our readers!