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High Winds Knock Out Power in the Poconos

PARADISE TOWNSHIP — Strong winds knocked out power to thousands of folks over the weekend. In parts of the Poconos, crews were still out on Monday trying ...
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PARADISE TOWNSHIP — Strong winds knocked out power to thousands of folks over the weekend. In parts of the Poconos, crews were still out on Monday trying to restore service.

Most of the power outages in the Poconos were tucked away in heavily wooded areas.  Some of the problems had roads shut down, while customers still wait for help to arrive.

PPL crews spread out across the Poconos, working to repair damages from powerful weekend storms.

Along Lower Swiftwater Road in Paradise Township, homeowners were left with quite the mess – trees and wires everywhere.

“I think it was like around 8:30, I was sitting at my dining room table just watching the large pine trees flow back and forth in the wind, and all of a sudden, I heard this big crackle,” said Janis Tafuri.

Tafuri showed us where the power lines ripped right out from the side of her home. Now she’s using a generator until an electrician can come help her out.

“No cable, no electricity, no heat, just a generator and coffee,” said Tafuri.

Neighbors say a pole came crashing down along Cranberry Creek Road sometime early Saturday morning. Now two days later, they’re still waiting for help to arrive.

“It felt, it was probably over 50 miles an hour. I’m not sure, but it was very powerful,” said Andrea Ekstedt of Paradise Township.

Cranberry Creek Road remained closed until power crews could clear the mess Mother Nature left in this heavily wooded area.

The people who live there say this doesn’t bother them at all.

“It’s not scary. I’m a survivor. It’s not scary. That’s Mother Nature for you, and it can happen anytime,” said Ekstedt.

Others are thankful falling trees spared their homes and their cars.

“Thank God it fell this way and not that way, into the neighbor’s yard and not onto the cars, so we’re blessed,” said Tafuri.

PPL officials tell us they’ve called extra crews to parts of Monroe, Wayne, and Pike Counties to work to repair damages in these isolated areas.

About 100 homes and businesses were still in the dark in Monroe County as of 6 p.m. Monday. Those repairs are expected to wrap up sometime around 11 p.m. Monday.

Here is outage information for some power providers in our area:

Power Outage Maps:
PPL Customers: https://www.pplelectric.com/my-account/outage-center/outage-map.aspx
UGI Customers: http://www.ugi.com/portal/page/portal/UGI/Outage_Center/Outage_Map
Penelec Customers: http://outages.firstenergycorp.com/pa.html

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