Cleaning Up the Aftermath
Three-day soaker causes flooding, road closures and major damage
Rosemary Connors
Jeffrey Vest of Warminster chops down a huge pine tree that toppled over in his backyard after this weekend's storm.
Residents and utility crews throughout Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware will spend most of Monday cleaning up the mess left after record rainfall hit the area causing flooding, road closures and major damage over the weekend.
The entire area mopped up Sunday following a bout with high wind and heavy rains that uprooted trees, downed power lines and flooded creeks and rivers. Branches and debris were scattered throughout yards and forced several road closures throughout the area.
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About 120,000 PECO customers lost electricity at the peak of Saturday's storm, which carried wind gusts of up to 70 mph. The outages mainly affected people living in Bucks and Montgomery counties. By Monday morning only 5,000 PECO costumers were still without power.
“The winds came along, and any of the trees that were damaged or weakened by that winter weather were blown around by gusts of up to 55 mph," PECO spokesman Fred Maher told Philly.com. "Then they come crashing into our lines.”
Despite the bad weather, hundreds turned out for Philadelphia’s annual Saint Patrick’s Day parade. Participants and onlookers donned raincoats and umbrellas as bands and floats made their way down Ben Franklin Parkway.
In New Jersey, high winds associated with the storm also apparently caused a crane collapse at a casino under construction in Atlantic City, leaving a city police officer injured. More than 380 people were evacuated last night from three main buildings, Bella Condominiums, Adelphia Apartments and High Gate Town Homes. Those people may not be allowed back in until Monday.
The winds also caused at least two homes to collapse, at 1800 Garfield Ave. and 110 Indiana Ave. Numerous other homes and buildings in the area were damaged as well.
Monday's forecast calls for more rain and wind but it will not be as heavy as Saturday.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 10 Philadelphia
Posted Sunday, Mar 14, 2010 - 9:39 PM EST
