LACKAWANNA COUNTY, Pa. — A few weeks ago, the people of Jefferson Township were taking precautions against drought. Now, they're battling a different sort of element.
"I've been in a couple of worse blizzards, but this seems to be like right up there. It's pretty bad," said Austin Martin of Jefferson Township.
"This has been like one of the worst because it's been like nonstop snow. I think it stopped for like half an hour and then continued," said Martin Rodriguez, Flagger Force Traffic Control crew lead.
Our Stormtracker 16 team estimates roughly a foot and a half of snow fell there, which put many people in less-than-ideal situations.
"I heard a cop car went into a telephone pole today, so that was pretty bad. There was a guy actually stuck right in the ditch right here by the telephone pole, saw a couple of crashes," added Martin.
Some in Jefferson Township are doing their best to help.
"I know the owner very well here, and I see that it's a mess, so I'm just here helping him out a little bit," said Ike Butler of Jefferson Township.
"I originally came out to start plowing people out and stuff and helping them, then it kind of turned into something else. Everyone started getting stuck in the side of the roads, so then we were pulling off, helping them out, make a couple of extra bucks. I try to help everyone I see," said Martin.
While others, like Jerry, are facing their own set of challenges and helping those in the dark.
"I'm filling the gas tanks up for the generator because we have no power. I already got three generators started for half the neighborhood, so I'm going to get mine started up now," said Jerry Elliott of Madisonville.
About 280 homes and businesses in Jefferson Township and 14,000 in Lackawanna County are currently without power. PPL Electric says a majority of people should get power back by the end of Saturday, and the rest should get power by the end of Sunday.