A violent thunderstorm that thrashed the Lehigh Valley Wednesday night has left thousands of PPL customers in the Bethlehem and Saucon Valley areas without power, and many residents are spending Thursday cleaning up yards littered with leaves and branches.
According to the company’s outage center map, as of 10 a.m. Thursday over 2,000 customers in parts of Fountain Hill and South Bethlehem were still without electricity, and over 1,500 customers in Lower Saucon Township–particularly in the Wassergass area–were in the dark.
Some customers in Hellertown borough, Upper Saucon Township and Springfield Township, Bucks County, were also identified on the map as having lost power due to the storm.
The west side of Bethlehem appeared to be particularly hard-hit by the severe weather, with nearly 3,500 power customers in areas along Eaton Avenue, Catasauqua Road and Pennsylvania Avenue identified on the map in several large outage areas. Storm damage was also observed at Sand Island Park in Bethlehem, where fallen tree limbs and branches blocked some trails.
The estimated time of repair by PPL for most of the affected areas was 3 p.m. Friday.
Lower Saucon Township Police said Thursday morning that multiple roads in the township were still closed due to downed power lines and trees. In an email alert, police said utilities and public works employees “are working diligently to clean up and make repairs.” In an alert issued Wednesday around 9 p.m., police said parts of Rt. 378 in the township were closed and urged people to avoid any downed wires.
PPL posted on X at 10 a.m. Thursday that “significant tree damage” was the cause of at least 1,000 outages in the company’s coverage area.
As of 10 a.m., PPL said it had restored electricity to approximately 85,000 customers and was continuing to make repairs to other lines.
STORM UPDATE: Our crews are continuing to restore power following Wednesday's storms. We have seen significant tree damage that caused more than 1,000 individual damage locations. So far, we have restored power to more than 85,000 customers. For more info: https://t.co/uw1hZ8TWBg pic.twitter.com/97M9yYPPf3
— PPL Electric Utilities (@PPLElectric) June 27, 2024
There were no immediate reports of injuries as a result of the severe weather, which moved across the Lehigh Valley following an oppressively hot and humid day. According to National Weather Service data, Wednesday’s high in Allentown was 93 degrees.
Cooler, more tranquil weather is expected Thursday and Friday, before a chance of thunderstorms returns on Saturday and Sunday.
Below: Photos show some of the damage to trees at Sand Island along the Lehigh River in Bethlehem. (Contributed photos)
