Storm wallops region; recovery begins

Posted by ChaddsFordLive on June 24, 2015

It’s a mess out there: If you can stay put, officials recommend doing so.

Motorists attempt to navigate Oakland Road in Chadds Ford Township, where fallen trees took down power lines.

Numerous roads in the greater Chadds Ford area remain closed due to fallen trees and limbs, many of which took out power lines. As a result of closures on sections of Route 926 and Oakland Road, detours have produced gridlock on the roads that are open, including Route 202.

And drivers who manage to find an alternate route are likely to be delayed by the many tree-removal crews that are out in force.

In Chester County alone, 150 roads remained closed Wednesday morning, and more than 50,000 homes and businesses lacked power, a county news release said. It also said Verizon experienced a service outage in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

Calls made from Verizon cellphones to a landline received a busy signal, including 9-1-1 calls. In an emergency, a Chester County Verizon customer who is unable to call can text to 9-1-1, the release said, adding that residents should try calling first.

A PECO press release said that the storm interrupted electric service to more than 250,000 customers and that service has been restored to more than 105,000 customers.

PECO activated its Emergency Response Organization, and all available personnel are responding to restore service as safely and quickly as possible. As of 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 56,000 customers in Chester County and 75,000 in Delaware County, which was hit even harder, were still without power, the release said.

The release said PECO expects the majority of customers to have service restored by Friday evening. However, some customers who experienced the most damage may be without service through the weekend.

Officials from the Chester County Department of Emergency Services are reminding people to “stay away from down or arching wires.” They also issued an advisory about generators, reminding residents to keep them at least 15 feet away from any structure and ensure a unit has adequate ventilation.

After a two-hour delay, Chester County officials closed the Justice Center and offices in the 300 block of West Market Street. The Government Services Center opened at 10:30 a.m.