NEW MILFORD, Pa. — The lights are still out for several people in Susquehanna County.
Heavy snowfall knocked out power to thousands.
Repairs are underway as a cold, windy night begins.
April snowfall covered New Milford in a wintery blanket.
Trees bent and broke under the weight of the wet snow, some knocked out power to thousands.
Almost every building in New Milford is dark.
Businesses in the borough shut down.
Uncle Charlie's Pizza is keeping freezers and fridges closed to keep the food fresh.
Employee Shawn Bryden was cleaning up.
"You know, typical Pennsylvania winter; you never know when it started, you never know when it ends," he said.
Bryden says people in the area are used to widespread outages.
"Up here in this area, the power goes out quite a bit. Pretty much every time we get a good wet snow or a good wind," he added.
"It's incredible how many people were impacted in this," New Milford resident Ronald Duffy said.
Duffy says he lost electricity overnight.
"We heard a lot of trees coming down, and then all of the sudden, the power went out," he said.
Duffy spent his afternoon inside a dimly lit Parkview Hotel Restaurant, helping them power up the generators and fire up the stove.
He says the storm came as a surprise to some residents.
I've heard a few people say that it hasn't happened in a long time, this late in the year," Duffy said.
Down the road in Great Bend, customers at Rob's Market prepared for a long night.
"This morning started off pretty slow because no one could get out. They were all shoveling to try to get here. But by lunchtime, it's been crazy," said Melanie Major, office manager. "Everyone wants their water, their bread, lunch meat, whatever they can do because nobody has power."
Major is among them, having lost power early Tuesday.
The store lost power too, but it's running on generators.
Major says everyone is stocking up.
"They're definitely coming in looking for canned stuff, whatever they can do to survive for the next couple days because nobody knows what's going to happen," she said.
Penelec says this storm caused more than 12,000 outages.
Claverack reports another 10,000 or more.
A Susquehanna County commissioner tells Newswatch 16 that it could be several days before streets and homes are lit once again.
For the most up-to-date information on the outage, check out these outage maps:
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