Winter Storm Riley roundup

Pocono Record (Stroudsburg, PA)

March 06--Outages

As of Monday morning, 12,372 PPL customers, or about 20 percent were without power out of 67,822 customers it serves in Monroe County.

Winter Storm Riley was "among its top ten worst storms on record in terms of damage and outages," PPL spokesman Joe Nixon said.

PPL expects the last customer to have their service restored by Wednesday at 11 p.m. PPL brought in hundreds of mutual aid workers from as far away as Texas and Florida. The company said it was mobilizing for the storm expected Wednesday and has moved crews from the western part of its service area to concentrate on Monroe County. About 775 repair locations are currently under restoration.

Met Ed, which provides service to the remainder of the county reported 13,540 out of its total customer base of 24,037, or just over 53 percent were still out of power as of Monday morning.

"Every morning, on my way to work, I see Met Ed workers standing around, drinking coffee, at the Fernwood Resort staging area (on Route 209 in Middle Smithfield Township)," said customer Lisa Geeze of Dogwood Lane in Section 4 of Pocono Ranchlands in Bushkill. "Minks Pond Road (near Pocono Ranchlands) looks like a tornado hit it with all the downed trees and power lines.

"And yet, I see these workers just hanging out when they should be doing something," Geeze said. "I don't know if they're waiting to be dispatched or what."

Customer Ed Lawler of Rim Road in Winona Lakes, East Stroudsburg, said he encountered several Met Ed workers on Alpine Road in that community.

"They told me they were waiting to hear from (Met Ed) to tell them where to go, but they hadn't yet heard from the company at the time I spoke with them," Lawler said. "Meanwhile, there a lot of elderly residents in my community who are having a tough time with the power outage. The same thing happened during (Super Storm) Sandy (in 2012). I contacted Met Ed and they didn't send someone out here until two hours later."

The company expects most customers to see their power restored by Wednesday night.

"That area got hit pretty hard," First Energy spokesman Mark Durban said. Met Ed is a subsidiary of First Energy. "The wind damage, with speeds of up to 60 miles per hour impacted our system pretty hard," he said.

Some additional line workers were brought in from other areas to help the Met Ed crews in this area, but because the storm has such a wide swath, there weren't as many line workers available to help Monroe County.

National Guard

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, through his declaration of an emergency for the opioid crisis, mobilized the National Guard to help clear roadways and bring supplies to those who were stranded throughout the storm.

"They were a godsend," Monroe County Commissioner John Christy said.

The National Guard had equipment that could pull stuck vehicles off of Interstate 80, carried water and snacks from the Walmart distribution center to vehicles stranded on the roadways, and provide medical transports, including one patient with heart issues and another, a pregnant woman who fell at Kalahari.

"They towed vehicles out of 24 inches of snow stuck on the side of 80 so they could open the roadway," Christy said.

The National Guard was mobilized on Friday evening and worked through the night and into Saturday.

The guard coordinated its efforts with the Monroe County Emergency Management Center in Snydersville, which served as operational headquarters for the mission. About 20 National guard members from the Scarnton and East Stroudsbug units participated in the aid effort.

Warming stations

For residents still without power in their homes, warming stations will be open daily at the following locations:

* Acme Hose Company firehouse, 380 Chestnut St., East Stroudsburg, from 5 p.m. through overnight. Available are showers, outlets for charging electronic devices and cots for overnight stays, but no food.

* Our Lady Queen of Peace Roman Catholic Church, 1402 Route 209, Brodheadsville, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Available are showers, food and outlets for charging electronic devices.

* Bushkill firehouse, 124 Evergreen Drive, Lehman Township. Available are food, cots for overnight stays and outlets for charging electronic devices, but no showers.

Shelters

The Red Cross has emergency overnight shelters open 24/7 in Monroe and Pike counties.

The Monroe County shelter is in the Stroudsburg High School gym area at 1100 W. Main St. in Stroudsburg.

The Pike County shelters are at:

* Dingman Township firehouse, 680 Log Tavern Road, Dingman Township.

* Central firehouse, 574 Westcolang Road, Lackawaxen Township.

A total of 90 people stayed in the Red Cross shelters in Monroe and Pike counties between Saturday and Monday, Pocono Mountains Red Cross Executive Director Michele Baehr said. Of those 90 people, 68 stayed at the Stroudsburg High School shelter.

"We haven't had a situation like this since (Super Storm) Sandy (in 2012)," Baehr said.

Most of the people staying at the Stroudsburg High shelter during the daytime Monday were senior citizens, some of whom are disabled. Many sat talking with each other in the gym lobby while a few slept on cots in the gym itself.

Other people came in only to take showers.

Red Cross volunteers checked people in, offered snacks and food donated from area restaurants, answered questions and helped see to various needs.

"It's very moving to see our volunteers, some of whom don't have power in their own homes, putting others' needs ahead of their own," Baehr said. "Our volunteers play such a vital role in us being able to provide the help we do."

Jackie Pride, a Red Cross volunteer since 2002, had been at the Stroudsburg High shelter since Sunday.

"I have power at my house, but it's sporadic," Pride said. "It just feels good to help those who can't help themselves. There are people in such dire need, like the folks we have here."

Linda Hawk, a resident at Milford Manor retirement home in East Stroudsburg, is appreciative.

"I've never had anything like this happen to me in all my years," Hawk said. "They need more places like this shelter. The volunteers here are so wonderful for taking time out of their own lives to help us."

Residents wishing to become volunteers can visit www.redcross.org or call the Red Cross Stroudsburg office at 570-476-3800.

"While we appreciate people wanting to help their neighbors in need, we ask that people not donate any food to any of our shelters," Baehr said. "Regularly inspected, certified businesses are the only places we can accept food from."

The best way to help those in need is to send monetary donations via www.redcross.org or to the Red Cross, 410 Park Ave., Stroudsburg, PA 18360.

With another storm expected to hit the area Tuesday night into Wednesday, the Red Cross is preparing to ensure it has enough volunteers to staff its local shelters. If needed, volunteers from less affected regions will be deployed to this region, which consists of Monroe, Pike, Wayne and Carbon counties.

"We'll be here for as long as people need us," Baehr said.

Firehouse damage

Throughout the area, trees and power lines were knocked down, blocking roads.

"We're still working on a lot of the secondary and back roads, but the interstates and main roads are open and clear," Office of Emergency Services Director Bruce Henry said.

Also problematic was structural damage to buildings, such as the Jackson Township firehouse on Route 715 near Mountain Road in Reeders.

"The wind blew part of the rubber and styrofoam roofing off," Fire Chief Cliff Oppelt said. "We lost two air-conditioning units and the chimney. Part of the concrete was damaged. The good news is no one was hurt and we lost no vehicles or equipment. We're checking with our insurance company. A structural engineer is supposed to come out and assess the damage.

"This hasn't affected our ability to respond to emergencies," Oppelt said. "We've been busy pretty much nonstop since Friday. A (Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency) case has been started for us through our county Office of Emergency Services."

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