MONTGOMERY--Close to 2,000 people in the Montgomery area were without power for most of the day after a tractor-trailer took down several power lines.
The hallways inside the Montgomery Area School District buildings were dark. The district's superintendent says the district lost power early in the morning and students used their IPads for flashlights.
"About 9:30 we determined it was too late to start lunches without power so we dismissed between 10-10:15," Superintendent Daphne Bowers said.
According to PPL, the problem started here in neighboring Northumberland County. A tractor-trailer took down several power lines. Close to 2,000 homes and businesses in the Montgomery area were without power throughout the day, while PPL crews worked to fix the problem. Montgomery Area Superintendent Daphne Bowers says it was a no-brainer to dismiss the students early.
"Toilet facilities are very important. We went as long as we could. Lunches are a big problem. We were not able to serve breakfast and we have a lot of students who count on breakfast," Bowers said.
In addition to the school district being without power, many homes and businesses here in Montgomery were left in the dark for several hours, including Montgomery's Pharmacy here on Main Street.
"It's very inconvenient because we can't run our computers to fill prescriptions. We can't get any faxes, any emails or any phone calls," Peggy Treese said.
Pharmacy employees also say they could not run the cash register to sell items to customers, and they had to do everything by flashlight. One business owner says he did not mind the power outage, even though he had to close a section of his business.
"I can sell guitars without electricity. We do have a restaurant but we can't sell any food," Larry Tickle said.
Power was restored to all customers by late afternoon.