Emergency shelters to open in Chester County between noon and 1 p.m.

Feb. 05--WEST CHESTER -- With 80 percent of Chester County reported to be without power, two emergency shelters and one warming center will be opening Wednesday afternoon.

Bill Turner, the county's emergency planning coordinator, said he has never seen outages this widespread.

"Even when we had the hurricanes that came through we weren't even near this number," he said. "It's pretty astronomical."

Turner said more details about the shelters and warming center will be announced soon, but he anticipates them opening between noon and 1 p.m. Wednesday.

The shelters will be operated by the Red Cross at Avon Grove High School, located at 257 State Road in West Grove, and Lionville Middle School, located at 550 West Uwchlan Avenue in Exton.

The warming center will be at Barkley Elementary School, located at 320 Second Avenue in Phoenixville, and staffed by the Phoenixville office of Emergency Management.

Turner said the first priority in addressing the outages is getting electricity restored to nursing homes, hospitals and residences where individuals have medical equipment that needs power. The county's government services building on Westtown Road in West Goshen Township, where its emergency operation center is located, is operating on a generator.

He said it's too early to estimate when power will be restored to the rest of the county because the situation hasn't "even stabilized yet."

Most of the widespread outages are being caused by tree limbs falling on wires, a problem Turner said is being exacerbated by heavy snow left on branches from Monday's storm that is now coated in ice.

"It's the perfect situation of factors that came together to make a real big mess for us," he said.

Some of those sagging branches fell into the roof of Ted Bleecker'sCharlestown Township home early Wednesday.

Bleecker said he was outside spreading salt at about 7 a.m. when he heard one of his large Sycamore trees crack in the wind.

"I just ran inside, first instinct, to make sure everybody was away from that side of the house," he said.

About an hour later, a large branch crashed into the roof, breaking through the ceiling of his 11-year-old daughter's bedroom and leaving two holes about four inches wide, he said.

"We put down some buckets," he said. "And I already put a claim in with the insurance company."

In West Chester, Dave Moffett, 49, was forced to cover his minivan with a tarp after a large branch from an oak tree impaled the roof and windshield in his driveway on North Franklin Street, near Virginia Street.

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610-313-8205 @TriciaNadolny

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