- Storms on Thursday took out power for more than 24,000 customers as of 9:30 p.m., PPL reports
- A number of those outages include hotspots in the Lehigh Valley
- To report a downed power line or outage, call PPL at 1-800-342-5775
LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. — A wave of storms on Thursday evening blew through the Lehigh Valley, knocking out power for a number of area PPL customers.
An operator with Northampton County Emergency Dispatch said the damage has been reported as nothing beyond downed trees and power lines across the county, but 28 different departments have been busy responding.
“While there may be a few lingering showers and thunderstorms before midnight, the remainder of the night will be dry but quite warm and muggy.”National Weather Service Mount Holly
The latest from the National Weather Service forecast office in Mount Holly, New Jersey: the severe thunderstorm watch spanning the Lehigh Valley and nearby areas even into New Jersey and Delaware had expired at 9 p.m. on Thursday.
“While there may be a few lingering showers and thunderstorms before midnight, the remainder of the night will be dry but quite warm and muggy,” reports the NWS Mount Holly X page.
Up until 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, NWS Mount Holly had issued a special weather statement for Bethlehem, Emmaus, and Quakertown, calling for winds up to 40 miles per hour and potential hail of ½ inch size. Those warnings included other nearby areas as well.
The hotspots
The following numbers are provided as listed on the PPL website as of 9:30 p.m.
Across its service area, PPL is reporting 24,694 customers without power. That area spans through Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Pike, Schuylkill, Snyder, Susquehanna, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York counties across central and eastern Pennsylvania.
Though the PPL Outage Map reports one area near Walnutport with just two power outages, a short way south on Route 145 shows another cluster of 609 service customers affected by Thursday’s storms. The site is listing an estimated repair time of 11:30 p.m. this evening.
In Lehigh County, Allentown is reporting two notable clusters of outages: 791 just south of West Park and a tripped breaker or blown fuse causing 527 outages south of the Lehigh Valley Thruway. Those cases are listed to be fixed before the midnight hour on Thursday.
A cluster of 205 outages spans a space between the Dutch Hill and Rittersville neighborhoods of East Allentown. Those are listed to be fixed at 3:30 a.m. on Friday.
LehighValleyNews.com has received reports of wind damage in North Whitehall, but has not been able to confirm that with emergency response officials.
Ninety customers to the west of Coopersburg are without power according to reports, but should be back on line come 4 a.m. on Friday.
Bethlehem seems to have dodged a bullet, with only one outage on the city’s North Side and another near the border with Bethlehem Township. However, nearby Fountain Hill has 46 outages across its west end.
Below Fountain Hill, tree limbs on wires have been reported along Black River Road, affecting seven PPL customers. Those folks may have power back by 11:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Heading east, three separate clusters of 110, 167, and 225 outages to the north of Bath Borough have crews on site working to get power back on by 4 a.m. on Friday.
Word has gotten back to our newsroom about more cases of wind damage in Tatamy, but we haven’t been able to confirm. PPL is reporting three outages to the east of the borough, with an estimated repair time of 4 a.m.
To report a downed power line or outage, call PPL’s hotline at 1-800-342-5775.
