Thousands of households in Philadelphia\u2019s collar counties remained without power a day after wind gusts downed trees and caused hundreds of electrical outages throughout the region. <\/p>\n
About 5,602 customers, mostly in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties, still did not have electric service as of early Saturday afternoon, according to Peco spokesperson Tom Brubaker. <\/p>\n
Nearly half the outages were due to fallen trees and branches interfering with electrical systems, Brubaker said. As a result, suburban counties saw far more outages than Philly, he said. <\/p>\n
Winds registered as high as 62 mph<\/a> Friday afternoon. Around 7 p.m., a pine tree fell on a Chestnut Hill<\/a> apartment, CBS reported<\/a>, while in Roxborough<\/a>, a tree fell on a vehicle, sending two people to the hospital.<\/p>\n Temperatures plummeted into the 20s Friday night, and, according to Brubaker, about 80,000 homes lost power. Peco has since restored 93% of those lines, he said.<\/p>\n Crews faced challenges from the weather, with wind gusts frequently topping 40 mph, Brubaker said. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen wind gusts are that high, we can\u2019t take our bucket trucks to repair lines,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n An additional 135 Peco employees from Virginia and North Carolina have traveled to the region to assist in the recovery, Brubaker said. <\/p>\n He said he expects most of the remaining outages to be resolved by Saturday evening, though \u201ca few rural, isolated customers\u201d may face longer waits. <\/p>\n