Lehigh County shovels out from snowstorm

Walter Perez Image
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Shoveling out in Allentown
By the time it was all but over, the people of Allentown started moving the mess left behind by Mother Nature.

SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- At one point during Tuesday's storm, it was near white-out conditions in Allentown.

By the time it was all but over, the people of Allentown started moving the mess left behind by Mother Nature.

That includes Sam Gordon who is 83-years-old, going on 23.

"I've been out since 4:15 this morning shoveling. This is my fourth time out here today," Gordon said.

Though, Gordon was doing a good job, we saw this as an opportunity to do our good deed for the day.

Allentown residents are grabbing their shovels to dig out after the storm.

And it was a little easier to do than expected.

That's because this part of our region was forecasted to receive around two feet of snow, but in the end, they received anywhere between 6 inches and a foot, depending on location.

Fortunately, most people heeded the warnings and stayed off the roads during the height of the storm.

And PennDOT officials say the snow removal effort continues even into the evening hours.

"We're going to have to do cleanup for probably well into tomorrow. It's not over yet," Ron Young of PennDOT said.

Bob Brooks reports on the storm's aftermath in Allentown.

Among those who didn't heed the warnings was Isaiah Vargas of Allentown whose car got stuck in the snow.

His friend Javon Raswul braved the bitter conditions trying to help push him out, but it was no use.

"He would have done the same thing for me," Raswul said.

Areas north and west of our regions got clobbered in the storm. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has ordered 700 National Guard troops to assist in storm duty across the state.

------