Delco still recovering from storm, preparing for next nor'easter
HAVERTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Cleanup work continued Monday in several Delaware County neighborhoods following Friday's powerful nor'easter.
Crews were out clearing downed trees and downed power lines as tens of thousands in the county remained without power.
Vince Dimento of Havertown is one of them.
"I'm hearing we could be back on hopefully by midnight," he told Action News. "So I'm just keeping my fingers crossed."
Dimento said the lights went out when a tree fell on an SUV near his home and brought down power lines.
He spent part of Monday morning warming up - and charging his phone - in his car. He also got updates from Action News' Karen Rogers on Facebook.
As of mid-afternoon, PECO said it had restored power to 90 percent of those who had been in the dark, but if you were one of the 10 percent, it's been a long, cold 72 hours.
"It's 47 degrees in my house right now," said one Havertown resident.
For those waiting, the multi-stage restoration process can be baffling.
"I guess I realize it's a process, and I'm not the only person in the world, but without knowing anything that is where you get the frustration," said Walt Barnes of Havertown.
On Friday, around 4 p.m., a large maple tree crushed a car and dragged down a 7600-volt power line. Monday morning a utility crew arrived. It's job - just to make sure all power was shut off and the area was safe and grounded, for the next expected crew.
The next crew is a group of men with chainsaws. Their job is to roll, cut up and take away the giant tree.
And then and only then will it be ready for yet another crew which will repair the actual damage and restring the power lines.
Action News also caught up with a Springfield Township crew Monday morning in the 600 block of Saxer Avenue.
Chainsaws were buzzing as they worked to clear a downed tree.
"Compare this to storms past," said worker Dominic Marascio. "(It's) one of the worst ones. You know, it's a double whammy because of plowing and the wind and trees down."
For the most part, residents appeared to be understanding about the progress of the cleanup work.
"We know they're doing what they can," Megan Pucillo of Havertown said. "It would be great if it was faster, but there's only so many people."
On Sunday, Action News found Pucillo running an extension cord to a neighbor's home which does have power.
"My sisters live locally, too. So I've been hanging out there a lot too. I'm a refugee," she said, laughing.
The Kessler family feels lucky they were able to borrow a generator to do some essentials, like laundry.
Their Sunday night meal was also made possible by a helpful neighbor.
"We're actually cooking on our neighbor's grill because we ran out of propane," said Steve Kessler of Havertown.
Officials said Haverford Township Schools are closed Monday because of the widespread damage and road closures caused by downed trees. Cabrini University was also closed.
A number of other school districts in Delaware County were also closed. Full list can be found here.
On Ellis Road in Havertown, a crew was working to cut up a massive tree that fell onto power lines during the storm Friday, just as an SUV was driving down the street.
"He saw it fall. It didn't hit him but he kind of slid into it," said resident Steve Liero. "He just barely stopped when he came to the tree so there's almost no damage to his car. Fortunately, he wasn't hurt."
In Springfield, Delaware County schools were on a two-hour delay Monday because of all the closures and outages.
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