Thousands remain without power after Tuesday storms
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Thousands of homes and businesses remain without power Thursday after severe thunderstorms raced across the region on Tuesday.
The bulk of the power outages are in the PECO's service area. The power company last reported 5,900 outages on Thursday, with most in Chester, Delaware, Bucks and Montgomery counties.
For more information on PECO's power outages, and information on how you can reports an outage, you can go directly to PECO's Storm Center.
LINK: Red Cross Power Outage Checklist
Storm leaves damage behind
Several cars were crushed when a tree fell in on the 300 block of East Mount Airy in the Philadelphia's Mount Airy section.
Another tree uprooted and fell across the roadway on the 4500 block of McKinley Street in the city's Wissinoming section, striking cars on the way down.
Resident Linda Mchale said, "A big gush of wind just came and we saw the tree just tip over."
Nearly three dozen trees came down in Radnor, Pa., taking down power lines and knocking out electricity there. The damage took one resident by surprise.
"It didn't seem that bad. It was windy, a little bit of rain. The next thing I heard a big 'bang' and the power went off," said Sandy Draper.
One resident said she will be waiting about two days to get power back.
"They're giving us an estimate of around Friday evening," said Leah Balafoutas. "It's going to be a long 48 hours."
Bucks County
Over in Bucks County, a massive tree toppled and crushed Donna Root's car in Levittown. Root says all she heard was the howling wind and a giant snap.
"Looked outside and the tree was all over the car," she said.
Up in Bensalem, Candi Bonecorse says she didn't even realize the top of a massive tree crushed her aboveground pool until Wednesday morning when she went outside to get it ready for her grandchildren.
"I walked out the side door and this is what I saw. Both my husband and mine, our jaws just dropped," said Bonecorse.
For many the downed trees fell onto power lines which means power outages.
Officials are urging residents to check frequently on their elderly neighbors.
The following senior centers in the area will be open with extended hours until 7:00 p.m. Wednesday-Friday:
Bristol Borough Area Active Adult Center
301 Wood Street, Bristol, PA 19007
Phone: 215-788-9238
July 9-11: 8:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Bristol Township Senior Center
2501 Bath Rd., Bristol, PA 19007
Phone: 215-785-6322
July 9: 3:00-7:00 p.m.
July 10-11: 8:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Ben Wilson Community Center
580 Delmont Ave., Warminster, PA 18974
Delaware County
In Radnor, homeowner Sandy Draper discovered ione of her large trees had crashed down onto power lines with such force the adjacent utility pole snapped in two.
"Actually it didn't seem that bad. It was just windy, a little bit of rain then the next thing I heard this big bang and the power went off," said Draper.
Down the street an entire tree crashed on a house.
On Wednesday, a crew using a crane and chain saws lifted off sections of the tree and remarkably the roof did not appear seriously damaged.
Meanwhile, in Chester, a utility pole and power lines could be seen down on East 24th Street. One resident was in the kitchen when he heard a loud 'crack.'
"It was like an explosion, then the power came back on, and then there was another explosion and then everything just went black," said Terrence London.
Providence Veterinary Hospital was also without power on Wednesday. Still, the three dogs there didn't seem to mind.
"The animals are all healthy, so they can compensate for a 10 percent, or a 10 degree or 15 degree rise in temperature," said Peter Herman.
The veterinary hospital was just serving the last family when a utility pole fell, narrowly missing their car.
"If they had gone out just five minutes earlier, with those five children trying to get into the car? The pole was only eight inches from the side of the cars," said Chris Jacobson.
New Jersey
In New Jersey, Kevin and Becky Traynor of 2nd Street in Fieldsboro surveyed the damage caused by a giant ash tree in their backyard. The tree split in half during the storm and crushed everything it fell on.
"We lost at least one boat, we lost a car or a truck. It actually blew out all the tires and we can't even get to it yet," said Becky.
The storm snapped a 13,000 Volt power line in front of Roya Halem's home in Cherry Hill.
"We looked through the window, we see a cable line on the ground and it was sparking fire and right away we panicked, we didn't know what to do," said Halem.
The storm also brought sporadic outages throughout South Jersey including Cherry Hill's Sun Valley section.
One resident, who went 14 hours without electricity before it was restored, says it made for a miserable night.
"Oh very uncomfortable, it was humid and everything plus the rain - the rain abated but the humidity," said Garr Holland.
