More Than 5,700 Without Power in Salisbury

Hurricane Sandy's fury downed trees and utility lines, knocking out power to more than 5,700 PPL customers in Salisbury Township.

Police, fire and public works department employees worked through the night clearing roads from tree debris, said Township Manager Randy Soriano, who also lost power in his home and at the township building.

Residents reported more than 40 fallen trees, Soriano said. 

Marhlon Kleintop on Herbert Street was one of those residents, who also lost power along with thousands of his neighbors on the East side and South Mountain area of the township. Kleintop spent the better part of Tuesday morning in a front-end loader clearing out toppled pine trees that fell on his house and property.

His daughter, Barbara Litzenberger, and her husband, James, whose home up the street lost power around 9 p.m. Monday, came down to check on him. They set up a propane heater in Kleintop's house after he lost power.

Barbara Litzenberger noted that most of the trees that fell were pines, which have shallow roots.

Litzenberger said Hurricane Irene, which hit last October, seemed worse than Sandy.

"Irene took out more trees and left us without power for five days," she said.

Litzenberger, who needs electricity to power her well, said she bought extra water and batteries for flashlights so she would be prepared for this storm.

Power went out at about 8:40 p.m. Monday at Western Salisbury Fire Department's station on Green Acres Drive, but volunteer firefighters stayed at the station throughout the night, said Chief Joshua Wells.

Firefighters transported supplies stored at Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship Church to the emergency shelter established at the Agri-Plex in Allentown on Monday night.

A generator powered the emergency operations center at the which lost electricity. The Chief Allen Stiles and Emergency Management Director Jeff Tapler spent the morning assessing damage from the storm throughout the township.

East Emmaus Avenue was littered with splintered tree limbs and leaves, and Seidersville Road, which had downed trees and utility wires, was closed to traffic. East Rock and Honeysuckle roads remain closed due to downed trees and power lines. 

Soriano said the township office is scheduled to re-open Wednesday.

The water pumping station on Flexer Avenue that services the Green Acres area and LVHN is running on backup power.

"LVHN did a great job assisting our emergency efforts by providing food and snacks throughout the night and day for our EOC personnel," Soriano told Patch in an e-mail.

"Residents without power should remain patient throughout this ordeal and if needed should seek emergency shelters. Residents with health conditions should seek immediate care since PPL does not expect to restore power for a few days."

Garbage collection by Waste Management, which was suspended Tuesday, will resume Wednesday with regular weekly collection.