Thousands without power in Delco after severe storms move through the Philly region
Large swaths of Delaware County were without power Friday morning after severe thunderstorms blew through the region.
Thousands of people lost power in Delaware County after a brief burst of strong thunderstorms blew through the region Friday morning.
As of 1:45 p.m., about 3,000 Peco customers were still without power across the county, down from a peak of over 10,000 Friday morning. Peco crews were working to restore power, but the company didn’t have an estimated time when the repairs would be done.
The severe thunderstorms moved through the region a little before 6 a.m. Friday, and reports have centered on down trees and power lines, according to Nick Guzzo, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service’s office in Mount Holly, N.J.
On Friday night, the National Weather Service said its damage survey team confirmed a downburst occurred just before 4:50 a.m. in the Media and Nether Providence area of Delaware County.
The damage observed was consistent with straight line winds in the 95 to 105-mph range, the weather service said.
In Media, several trees were snapped at their trunks or uprooted, and a building lost a significant portion of its roof covering, the weather service said.
More trees sustained similar damage in Nether Providence.
Wallingford-Swarthmore School District announced all schools would be closed Friday due to the outages and downed trees, which the district said prevented buses from getting into many neighborhoods. At least two schools — Wallingford Elementary School and Nether Providence Elementary Schools — were without power Friday morning.
Several roads were closed in Nether Providence Friday morning, according to police.
The good news is after any lingering storms move off the coast, there will be a bit of a lull until the evening, Guzzo said, when the region could experience an isolated storm or two.
The Delaware Valley also avoided the severity of what hit Tennessee and parts of the Midwest, where at least 57 tornadoes reported have been reported and at least seven people killed.
“As you progress into the weekend, it’s going to be more on-and-off again showers,” Guzzo said, with Sunday looking warmer but more likely for a washout later in the day.