Utility Crews Rush To Restore Power For Thousands As Second Nor'easter Looms
WYNNEWOOD, Pa. (CBS) -- Before the latest blast of winter weather slams the area, utility crews are rushing to get power restored for thousands of people who lost it during last Friday's nor'easter.
PECO says about 10,030 homes and businesses are still without power, while PPL has more than 341 outages.
Second Nor'easter Of March Expected To Dump Heavy Snow On Region
The outages are lower for Atlantic City Electric, Delmarva Power and PSE&G.
In Montgomery County, tens of thousands are still without power and many are worried it may not be restored by the time this next storm hits.
The damage caused by downed trees and power lines are widespread.
As the next nor'easter approaches these hard-hit areas, concerns still circle around current debris still in the roadways.
There are also weakened trees that could be more likely to come down this time around.
People are concerned they might have to ride out this latest storm without power.
"We lost power on Friday around 4-4:15, ever since then it's been cold," said Danielle Thomas of Hatboro. "I am not happy at all. Granted it is the season, they did say that March is going to come in as a lion, but I'm hoping it goes out as a lamb."
"It's frustrating, but it's also terrifying. We don't know how bad this new storm is going to get," said Erica Goldblatt Hyatt of Huntington Valley.
Royersford Borough, Upper Merion Township and Franconia Township in Montgomery County have issued snow emergency declarations.
In Delaware County, officials have identified areas across the county that are still impacted by last Friday's storm.
State forest rangers have been deployed to those areas to help deal with the clean-up effort.
"Today we've literally doubled our force of rangers in the community cutting trees, clearing accesses, assisting with PECO to make sure that we're trying to get ahead of the next storm," said Timothy Boyce, director of emergency services in Delaware County.
The rangers will work across the county as long as they're needed.
For Wednesday's storm, PennDOT says they have 450 trucks ready to go as soon as the precipitation begins to accumulate.
"Stay home or stay wherever you are at all costs. This is not a storm you should be traveling in," said PennDOT Spokesperson Brad Rudolph. "The timing of it, it's not good. A lot of people are still without power. There are a lot of roads closed, a lot of smaller roads closed. This storm is not going to do anything to help solve that problem and could create new situations."
"We expect if the precipitation were to turn over to snow, eventually the road temps are gonna get cold enough where you're going to get some accumulation. Now the temps, being on the warm side, are in our advantage, it's easier to push and clear lanes with our plows, so that's a good thing," Rudolph adds.
PennDOT will impose a ban at midnight on interstates 78 and 81 for empty straight trucks, large combination vehicles, tractors hauling empty trailers, trailers pulled by passenger vehicles motorcycles and RVs.
