Aug. 11--SUNBURY -- Electrical crews working nearly non-stop have restored electrical service to about 9,000 customers since Sunday afternoon when strong thunderstoms ripped through the region with 70 mph winds.

This afternoon, only two remain in Union County.

Tom Kines, a meteorolgist from AccuWeather in State College, said wind speeds of an estimated 60-70 mph swept through the area. The winds caused most of the damage by knocking trees over power lines and across roads.

After the power went out and people were able to regroup, food preservation took center stage for most residents. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food in a full free-standing freezer will stay at freezing temperatures for about 48 hours without power, a half-full freezer will stay frozen about 24 hours. If the freezer is not full, the USDA recommends moving all packages together to insulate them and keep them as cold as possible.

At the Country Cupboard, near Lewisburg, power was out intermittently, said Joanne Lloyd, a manager at the facility. "Basically though, we did not lose power and it's fortunate that we didn't. We had a number of customers who lost power come to our restaurant to eat, because they couldn't use their own kitchens."

An area hit particularly hard was the Colonial Acres development, in Monroe Township, Snyder County. After losing power for nearly 19 hours, the sub-station providing water to the development also went out due to the power outage. This left residents without power and low water pressure to the point toilets couldn't be flushed without filling them up with water.

"When we have no power the sub-station about three quarters down the hill was effected," Bob Doud, of Selinsgrove and President of the Home Owner Association said. "We had very low water pressure. Along with supplying water to the homes, it also supplies water to the fire hydrant system, so we had no fire protection. It was a big concern for our residents. Being the President of the Home Owners Association, I received a lot of calls from people that were concerned."

The company supplying water for the development was able to restore water pressure by hooking a generator up early in the morning.

"After several phones call to Aqua Water Company, they finally came up and put a generator down there so we could have water," Doud said. "They took care of that this morning for us. We've had water since ten o'clock so thank goodness for that."

Along with facing the situation of having no water, Doud has three different freezers in his home, including one with 1,000 pounds of meat. Doud has still not opened the freezer hoping the food will still be preserved when the freezer gets back to freezing temperatures.

"They did come back and get service to us by ten o'clock this morning," Doud said of PPL. "Everyone was thankful for that, but it's frustrating as a homeowner because it's difficult to get through to everyone. We have two refrigerators stuffed to the hill and a freezer with a 1,000 pounds of meat. We're just happy to have the power back on and the water back on."

The Northumberland County Department of Public Safety has set up three water distribution stations to help those lacking electrical service.

The sites are at the lobby of the Milton Area High School, 700 Mahoning St., MIlton; Turbotville Fire Department, Broadway Street in Turbotvtille and the Northumberland County 911 Center at 911 Greenough Street, Sunbury.

In Lewisburg, borough officials announced that the municipal brush pile will be open additional hours this week due to the severe storms that passed through the area on Sunday.

Lewisburg Borough residents only may bring brush debris from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Regular hours will be held Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday, from 8 a.m. to noon.

The brush pile is located adjacent to Wolfe Field, off St. Anthony Street, near the Borough recycling station.

n Daily Item reporter Rick Dandes contributed to this story.

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