MOSCOW -- Windy conditions have caused some power failures throughout the area.
Utility crews were out Tuesday morning in Lackawanna County in the North Pocono area.
Heavy winds overnight led to scattered power outages Tuesday morning in parts of the Poconos.
One of those outages impacted the North Pocono School District in Lackawanna County. The wind caused some closures and early dismissals there.
There haven't been many schedule disruptions this school year at North Pocono, but a downed power line near the school forced an early dismissal for some students.
"One snow day so far," said North Pocono Superintendent Bryan McGraw. "Last year we had 12, but instead we have a wind day, partially a wind day."
The wind knocked a tree down into the wires overnight. That knocked out power to North Pocono Intermediate and Moscow Elementary Center. They both were closed for the day.
To finish repairs, the power crew had to shut off power to the middle school for a while, leading to the dismissal.
"It's a big if," said McGraw. "If it's going to be 30 minutes to an hour or longer, we might as well keep the kids safe, get them on the buses, get them home, and live to fight the battle tomorrow."
North Pocono High School wasn't affected by the power problem, but since it is on the same bus run as the middle school, it had to dismiss early, too.
"It doesn't bother me personally, but I'm sure a lot of parents, you know, have issues," said Marybeth Lewis.
Many parents had to make adjustments to deal with kids getting out early but appreciate having few disruptions this year due to snow.
"It's so nice they're getting out June 3 and usually they get out the middle of June, so the kids are thrilled."
"We were all screaming and cheering," said eighth grader Kaylyn Stefanski.
They were thrilled with the early dismissal at the middle school, too.
Some of the students missed having more shortened days this winter and were a bit envious when this power problem canceled class at other district schools.
"We were all so upset because everyone lower than us was getting out early, because they didn't have school because there was a power outage, and they made the announcement and we were so excited," Stefanski said.
There are still hundreds of homes and businesses without power in the Poconos but power is expected to be restored by Tuesday night.
At North Pocono, school is planned as normal for Wednesday.
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