Storm knocks out power to thousands

Nearly 2,000 customers remained without power Thursday afternoon in the Lehigh Valley after winds caused widespread power outages and knocked trees down the night before.

At about 2:30 p.m., PPL and Met-Ed reported about 1,800 customers without power between Lehigh and Northampton counties. At the peak of the outages late Wednesday night, more than 10,000 customers were without power in the two counties.

Dana Burns, a PPL spokeswoman, said Thursday morning that crews worked overnight to restore about 30,000 outages in its coverage area, which is more than 20 counties in Pennsylvania. Burns said most customers should have power restored by 11 p.m. Thursday, but some might not have power until Friday.

Met-Ed crews were still assessing the damage Thursday morning to establish estimated restoration times, according to Met-Ed spokesman Todd Meyers. Crews made decent progress in the overnight hours, he said, noting that at one point 4,000 residents were without power from the storm.

The company sent crews from the York County area, which was not hit hard from the winds, to help restore power in the Lehigh Valley. West Penn Power, a sister utility to Met-Ed in western and central Pennsylvania, also sent workers to help, Meyers said.

The cold front that delivered the high winds Wednesday night also sent temperatures plummeting. High temperatures Thursday struggled to get out of the 30s, a significant departure from the highs in the upper 50s and lower 60s seen in the Lehigh Valley earlier this week.

Temperatures are expected to rise later this week.