A record-number of people have lost their power across the region thanks to a significant ice storm and power officials warn it could be days before everyone has their electricity back.
PECO Energy, the largest power provider in the Philadelphia region, told NBC10.com the storm was the second worst in their history with over 600,000 customers without power at the height of the storm.
Wednesday night, PECO still had over 500,000 customers without service, according to spokeswoman Cathy Engel Menendez.
"While it's down from the 623,000 customers who were impacted earlier today, we really want people to understand that there is significant damage that needs to be repaired," Menendez said. "We will be working on this for many days to come."
A PECO spokesperson, which has about 1.6 million customers in six Pa. counties, says snapped power lines, icy trees and cars crashing into utility poles are the main cause of outages for their customers.
PECO expects it to take days to get everyone's electricity service back online. In the most heavily damaged areas, some people may have to wait through the weekend to have their power restored, officials said.
"We believe that we'll be able to restore service to most customers in the next several days," Menendez said. "But there will be customers with heavily damaged equipment. That takes a long time to repair. Some of our more rural customers could be without service into the weekend."
PECO currently has 3500 employees and contractors who are working to restore services. Menendez also says the company is expecting an additional 1,000 field personnel, including 200 crew members from their sister utility in Chicago, to join them in the next 48 hours.
Menendez also urged drivers to stay off the roads whenever possible while PECO crews worked throughout the night.
"If people can stay off the roads, that would be extremely helpful," she said. "Our crews are going to be working in very dangerous conditions this evening and we want them to work as safely as possible."
Pennsylvania counties have fared the worst in this storm. Here's the breakdown of outages from PECO and PPL Electric, which also services several Pa. counties:
- CHESTER COUNTY: 150,088
- MONTGOMERY COUNTY: 150,582
- BUCKS COUNTY: 118,251
- DELAWARE COUNTY: 53,992
- PHILADELPHIA COUNTY: 13,161
- BERKS COUNTY: 924
- LEHIGH COUNTY: 35
- NORTHAMPTON COUNTY: 42
- LANCASTER COUNTY: 21,305
Blackouts in Abington, Pa. forced Abington Memorial Hospital to switch to backup generators, hospital officials said. A spokesperson says the outage is not affecting care and that the hospital is fully staffed.
Several schools, including Villanova and Arcadia University were closed due to a loss of power. Villanova will remain closed until Friday while power was restored at Arcadia's Glenside campus. An NBC10 viewer told NBC10 that students at Arcadia's Oak Summit Apartments are staying in the hallways due to the cold conditions.
"The school has power but there apartments don't," said Regina Bonino Miller. "Nothing is being done and there may be no power for three days and they expect them to go to class."
Arcadia posted a message on their website stating that staff at the school moved generators to Oak Summit for heat and basic lighting. They also stated that classes at the school's Glenside and King of Prussia campuses were closed.
Over in New Jersey, PSE&G say 9,180 customers, nearly all of them in Burlington and Mercer Counties, are without power.
In Delaware, Delmarva Power is reporting 6,186 outages in New Castle County, Del.
Officials urge people without power to alert the utility and DO NOT call 911.
You can use the following numbers to report your loss of power or make a report through each company's website.
- Emergency: 1-800-841-4141 (24 hour service)
- Customer Service: 1-800-494-4000 (Mon through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sat. 9 p.m. to 1 p.m.)
- Emergency: 1-800-DIAL-PPL (1-800-342-5775 (24 hour service)
- Customer Service: 1-800-DIAL-PPL (1-800-342-5775) (Mon. through Fri. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)
- Emergency: 1-800-833-7476
- Customer Service: 1-800-642-3780
- Emergency: 800-436-PSEG (7734) (24 hour service)
- Emergency: New Castle County (DE) and Cecil and Harford Counties (MD) 1-800-898-8042
- Kent and Sussex Counties (DE) and the Eastern Shore of Maryland 1-800-898-8045
Photo Credit: Holly Schmoyer Herbener