Storm causes power outages and closed schools throughout Chester County – Daily Local

WEST CHESTER—Overnight, Tuesday and Wednesday, high winds and heavy rains brought down branches and trees, while causing widespread power failures all over Chester County.

County EMS reported seven water rescues, 127 incidents of wires down and about 20 public service calls asking fire companies to pump out basements where residents had no sump pumps.

At least 13 trees fell onto homes countywide. As of mid-morning Wednesday, no flooding was reported.

PECO spokesperson Madison Davis reported mid-morning Wednesday that 52,000 customers were without power in the entire service region, with 30,000 customers in Chester County still without power. Overall, 215,000 customers lost power in the service area. Estimated restoration time for the majority of customers should be within 24 to 48 hours.

PECO called in an additional 1,000 field personnel from Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, New York and North Carolina to work alongside PECO crews to help restore power safely and as quickly as possible, Davis said.

With saturated ground and possible high winds, Davis said that more outages are possible. She suggested that customers consult the regularly updated outage map at PECO.com/outages

West Chester Police and Fire Departments responded to more than a combined 100 calls for service during the storm. Incidents ranged from flooded roadways, trees down, wires down and a water rescue. No injuries in the borough were reported.

Thousands of students stayed home. School districts reported either fully closed for learning or schooling through flexible instruction and online lessons were Great Valley, Downingtown, Avon Grove, Phoenixville, Unionville, Kennett Consolidated and West Chester.

Mary Schwemler is the manager of communications for the West Chester Area School District and said the district doesn’t anticipate any issues that would prevent West Chester schools from opening back up for in-school learning on Thursday.

The Delaware Environmental Observation System listed the following rainfall totals for Jan. 9: Wolf’s Hollow Park, Atglen — 3.08 inches; Chester Springs — 3.04 in; Devault, Tredyffrin — 3.57 in; Springton Manor Park, Glenmoore — 2.77 in; and Bucktoe, Kennett Square — 3.08 in.

Also: Longwood, East Marlborough — 3.20 in; Marshallton, West Bradford — 3.2 in; Nottingham Park, Nottingham — 3.63 in; West Chester — 3.89 in; and West Grove — 2.21 in

Downingtown is prone to flooding, but Mayor Phil Dague reported no such issues Wednesday morning, although he said there were lots of wet basements and homes without power.

“Other than that I think we got lucky,” Dague reported.

The National Weather Service predicts a storm for Friday night through Saturday morning that could bring another round of strong winds and heavy rainfall, with rain and possibly a  thunderstorm, starting Friday, from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m., and with a chance of precipitation pegged at 100 percent. New rainfall amounts of between 1 and 2 inches are possible.

Reporter Michael Rellahan contributed to this story.