About 17,000 still without power in Lehigh Valley after storm downs trees, power lines; wind gusts up to 60 mph reported [Updated]

Thousands of Lehigh Valley residents remain without power after a severe thunderstorm Thursday morning made its way through the area.

The National Weather Service received reports of wind damage in Allentown, Bethlehem, Catasauqua and North Whitehall Township, after the storm hit the region about 8:20 a.m.

Wind gusts very likely reached up to 60 mph when the storm came through, according to Eric Hoeflich, meteorologist for the weather service office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. The storm knocked power out to more than 25,000 people between both Lehigh and Northampton counties.

By the afternoon, roughly 17,000 residents remained without power. Power restoration estimates ranged from as early as 4 p.m. Thursday to noon Friday, according to PPL. As of about 2:30 p.m., PPL’s outage map reported about 11,800 residents without power between both counties. MetEd, another electric provider in the region, reported about 5,800 residents without power at that time.

Officials from both companies said crews are working to restore the power. Tracie Witter, a PPL spokesperson, said crews are either onsite or have been dispatched to restore power. Additional personnel have been activated and longer shifts, with around-the-clock coverage, have been implemented.

PPL outages may be reported online at pplelectric.com or by texting “Outage” to TXTPPL.

Met-Ed spokesperson Todd Meyers said Thursday afternoon that the storm affected 17,000 customers in both counties and nearby areas. Crews from York and Adams counties are assisting Met-Ed workers in restoring the power.

High winds knocked trees onto Met-Ed’s electrical facilities. Meyers said crews were still assessing damage and did not have a restoration time yet. Many should be restored Thursday, but some areas with heavier damage or with smaller customer counts may not be restored until Friday.

Crews are focusing on outages in areas with the highest customers affected, he said.

Met-Ed officials are working to replace a pole on a power line that feeds the Northwood substation on Northwood Avenue in Easton. That substation feeds power to two other substations. Repairs should be finished Thursday and will restore power to about 2,000 customers, according to Meyers.

Met-Ed outages and downed wires may be reported to 1-888-LIGHTSS.

Whitehall-Coplay School District and Easton Area High School dismissed early because of power outages.

Easton police Capt. Salvatore Crisafulli said there were no serious calls from the storm. There was one minor car crash, and the rest were downed wire and tree calls, he said. Bethlehem police Capt. Nicholas Lechman said the department fielded multiple calls related to downed trees and wires from the storm. He said about 10 a.m. that all major road closures were cleared.

Brittney Waylen, a Northampton County spokesperson, said there were 714 calls to 911 between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Of those, 239 were emergency calls, and 223 were for wires or trees down, she said.

While Allentown police said they received numerous calls for downed trees and wires, Capt. Thomas Anderson said things were relatively quiet for patrol officers.

A number of roads in Lower Saucon Township were closed, according to the township police department. The following roads remained closed as of Thursday afternoon:

• Saucon Valley Road between Bingen Road and Weyhill Farm Road
• Silver Creek Road between Resevoir Road and Lower Saucon Road
• Crestline Drive between Williams Church Road and Lower Saucon Road

PennDOT’s traffic website 511pa.com is reporting the following road closures elsewhere in the Lehigh Valley:

• Route 611 between Frost Hollow Road and Lower Mud Run Road in Forks Township
• Route 248 between Northwood Avenue and Van Buren Road in Palmer Township
• Limeport Road between Westminster Drive and Limeport Pike in Upper Milford Township

Storms started moving into the area about 8:20 a.m. and left by about 9 a.m., which was the end of a severe thunderstorm warning issued by the weather service. Hoeflich said the storm brought .67 inches of rain to the area.

While forecasters warned of hail, Hoeflich said the weather service did not get any reports of hail in the Lehigh Valley. No major reports of damage were made either.

“Mainly what we got were trees and wires down,” he said.

Hoeflich said storms could return in the afternoon, but they will likely be south of the Lehigh Valley, closer to Philadelphia.

Thursday marked another wet day for May, which has ended up being particularly rainy. While not much rain has fallen throughout the month, recordable rain has fallen on 13 days so far. Just over 3 inches of rain has fallen in the Allentown area in May, according to weather service data.

More rainfall is on the way this weekend. Hoeflich said Friday should be clear, but there is a possibility of rain Saturday and again Monday. Any rain that falls will likely not be a total “washout,” he said.

Temperatures will be in the low 80s and high 70s, he said.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.