While superstorm Sandy ravaged the East Coast, leaving about 8 million in the dark across 15 states and killing at least 50 by Tuesday, damage was minimal in Schuylkill County as recovery efforts focused on restoring power to thousands of local residents.
"Fortunately, the storm turned out to be less severe than we thought," John Matz, Schuylkill County Emergency Management Agency coordinator, said Tuesday evening. "We did not get as much rain as predicted. Rainfall numbers were nowhere near what we thought they would be."
National Weather Service stations at Mahanoy City and Pine Grove recorded 3.22 and 2.6 inches of rain, respectively, as of 7 a.m. Tuesday. The NWS expected rainfall totals between 3 to 6 inches throughout most of the state with winds between 30 to 40 mph and gusts reaching as high as 70 mph. Peak winds were unavailable for Schuylkill County, but Barry Lambert, meteorologist with the NWS, State College, said they generally fell between 55 and 75 mph.
"As far as tree and wind damage, without a lot of foliage, the impact was not as big as it could have been, but it was about as big as we thought," Lambert said Tuesday. "Had the storm taken a little more of a turn west, (the Schuylkill County) area would have been more under the gun, but the greatest impact was in the southern part of the state."
According to PPL's Outage Center website at pplelectric.com/outagecenter, 9,242 county residents were still without power as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. As of the same time, PPL had restored power to 15,032 customers in the county.
"We are working with PPL, PennDOT and other state agencies to determine the impact of the storm and start the restoration of electricity in the county," Matz said Tuesday.
Martha Herron, PPL's regional community relations director, said customers could be in the dark for days.
"This will be a multi-day outage for some customers - possibly a week," Herron said Tuesday morning.
Wind conditions made it difficult to restore power at times, Herron said. Local municipalities and fire companies have been setting up warming centers where residents can spend the night.
"We will respond as safely and as quickly as possible," Herron said, adding that 4,350 workers were on the job from as far away as Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and other states. She also said state police have provided the use of helicopters to survey the damage.
Statewide, 303,374 customers in 29 counties were still powerless Tuesday night.
The county Emergency Management Agency only received a few reports of homes being damaged, Matz said Tuesday.
"Most reports we received at this point from the municipalities is minimal impact on residences and businesses," Matz said.
Only a year after Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee caused extensive flooding in the area, Matz said the county was more prepared this time around.
"Our municipalities did a fantastic job getting ready to deal with the effects of the storm," Matz said. "I think the preparations they did Friday, Saturday and Sunday made a major difference as far as flooding and wind damage are concerned. They were also able to quickly assess damages and report it back to us."
Cleanup had already begun in the county Tuesday morning.
"The borough fared very well," Schuylkill Haven Borough Manager Scott Graver said in an email. "We have no flooding whatsoever. We do have downed trees which have resulted in some power outages."
Ed Yeich, Schuylkill Haven's EMA coordinator, said water levels are still being monitored.
"All things considered, I think we were pretty lucky," Yeich said. "I would probably say we had (more of) a problem with wind than with water."
Officials said the same in Orwigsburg.
"We are very fortunate. We had a whole lot of trees down, some property damage but no flooding," borough Manager Mike Lonergan said. "We didn't have to close a single street."
Lonergan said most of the property damage consisted of shingles blowing off homes but no injuries were reported. While there were still some trees down on wires Tuesday, Lonergan said all roads were cleared.
Trees were also the concern in Norwegian Township.
Township Supervisor Bob Kirwan said a large tree had fallen during the night at Maple Avenue and Walnut Street. The section of the road was still closed Tuesday afternoon.
Kirwan said there was no flooding in the township, just downed branches and trees causing power outages.
As of press time Tuesday, 20 municipalities in Schuylkill County still had disaster declarations active. They were: the boroughs of Tamaqua, New Ringgold, Orwigsburg, Port Carbon, Mount Carbon, Saint Clair, Mahanoy City, Frackville, Gordon, Ashland, Girardville, Hegins and Tremont and the townships of Rush, West Penn, East Brunswick, West Mahanoy, Butler, Reilly and Pine Grove.
Pine Grove Area School District canceled classes for today and trick or treat in the borough was rescheduled to 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Pine Grove Township rescheduled its trick or treat to 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday.
"We really did well here. There's only a few blocks without power," Borough Mayor Kimberly Brown-Zerbe said Tuesday night.
Brown-Zerbe said most of the damage was limited to highly forested Pine Grove Township.
Tamaqua Area School District is under a two-hour delay this morning with no morning or afternoon kindergarten. Other area schools closed today are: McAdoo Catholic and Mahanoy Area. Mahanoy Area has also postponed its Safe Trick-or-Treat to Sunday.
Due to the closure of the Schuylkill County Courthouse and the Election Bureau on Tuesday, which was the deadline for absentee ballots, county residents can apply for an "Emergency Absentee Ballot" starting today. Ballots are available at the Election Bureau, 420 N. Centre St., Pottsville, and need to be returned by 5 p.m. Friday.
After forms are notarized at the bureau. Residents will be able to vote directly at the office. Any questions can be directed to the bureau at 570-628-1467.