UPDATE (9:40 p.m.): More than 1,000 now without electricity in Schuylkill County.
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Several hundred Schuylkill County homes lost power early Thursday night as a powerful rain and wind storm moves through the area.
According to the PPL Outage Center, many of the reported power outages at 9 p.m. are in southern Schuylkill County.
Here’s a look at some of the major outages reported across Schuylkill County:
- Auburn: 400+ outages
- Schuylkill Haven: 175+ outages
- Lake Hauto: 75+ outages
- Heckscherville: 300+ outages
Scattered power outages are filtering in to the PPL Outage Center as rain and wind intensify across the area.
It’s likely more people in Schuylkill County will lose power Thursday night, too. Dozens of calls are pouring into the 9-1-1 center in Pottsville reporting downed trees and wires. That, along with flash flooding, is forcing some first responders to close roads to traffic.
Just west of Schuylkill County, thousands of PPL customers are without electricity tonight as a cold front moves through the area. In total, more than 12,000 PPL Electric customers have no power right now.
More than 2 inches of rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph are expected by the end of this storm.
UPDATES …
- Report at 9:30 p.m., emergency crews note flooding and slow travel on Route 61 in both north and south lanes near Pottsville.
- At 9:20 p.m.: emergency officials on scene report “the whole Ringtown valley” without power.
- More than 100 Frontier Communications customers have no dial tone on telephone service (9:15 p.m.).
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