Thousands in Chester County still without power 2 days after storm

Thousands of PECO customers were still without power Thursday after powerful storms earlier this week.

The storm brought damaging winds, gusting higher than 55 mph, and heavy rain.

"Couldn't find any relief except for just sitting in the shade and tough it out," said Andrew Benmbark, of East Fallowfield Township. "Just crossing our fingers something happens soon. Just dragging, another day, no power. It's really hard to function."

Benmbark is one of the thousands of about 130,000 people who lost power Tuesday night and one of the 20,000 in Chester County that still remain without power.

READ MORE: Historic black oak tree falls in Chester County during storm

At Triple Fresh Market in East Fallowfield Township, they're running a generator to keep the refrigerators and freezers working.

"Doing best we can. Lots of dry ice," said Cheryl Welker, an administrative assistant at the market. "We're limited with the amount of foods that we can serve. We're starting to go through stuff now, trying to total up amount of food that we lost."

PECO says crews are continuing to manage major tree and infrastructure damage following two rounds of severe weather.

To support this effort, nearly 400 mutual assistance field workers from Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia are joining alongside PECO crews and contractors to address damage and restore service for customers.

Cleanup efforts were also still underway Thursday morning.

"It's hot. So, keep taking breaks," said the owner of Living Tree, Jay Gibbs.

Gibbs and his crew were focused on the historical buildings along 1st Avenue in Coatesville.

"There's maybe about 20 trees, 20 big ones," said Gibbs. "It's going to be hard."

PECO expects to restore service to nearly all customers by Friday night.