NICHOLSON, Pa. — Main Street in Nicholson had very little traffic on this sunny day, and the only sounds heard were the hum of generators powering homes that lost power after the heavy snow knocked down trees causing the outage.
Joseph Frank says his power has been out since early Tuesday morning, so he fired up his generator to power his refrigerator and a space heater.
"Thank God it's not below zero because a lot of people would be freezing. And what if you can't afford to go to a hotel or anything? I don't know what the government can do for anybody like this."
Newswatch 16 ran into Wyoming County Commissioner Ernie King in Nicholson as senior residents were being moved from the S.J. Bailey Apartments to a warmer location. King says the county has been in contact with Penelec about the outages. He says five of the substations were knocked out because of trees that took down power lines.
"The ash trees that have been dead for at least two years now, and they've been standing there just waiting to fall, and that's what's happened," Commissioner King said.
The power outages could be problematic for businesses in Nicholson if the power stays out for much longer.
"The businesses here, their freezers, they're all filled with food. I don't know how long the freezers will stay frozen without power," Frank said.
Anthony Zanghi was in town for work from Scranton. He didn't realize the storms hit so badly in Wyoming County and was surprised when he found the doors locked on one of his stops.
"I'm checking the door, and there's no power, so my job in Nicholson is done today until they get the power back on."
According to Penelec's website, power is expected to be restored by Friday afternoon, but it could be sooner.
Wyoming County has set up a shelter inside the Keystone College gymnasium for anyone who needs a warm place to stay.
For the most up-to-date information on the outage, check out these outage maps:
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