Published: January 08, 2009 12:07 am      

Ice storm knocks down trees, wires

By FRANK SOJAK

fsojak@tribdem.com

Icy conditions for the second consecutive day caused numerous schools to delay the start of classes Wednesday morning and caused the postponement of 24 high school athletic events scheduled for Wednesday night.

The steady stream of freezing rain kept firefighters in Upper Yoder Township and Westmont and Southmont boroughs as well as utility crews in those areas busy Wednesday morning handling fallen trees and wires.

Cambria 911 said the remainder of Cambria County fared better than those three communities.

In Somerset County, Rick Lohr, director of the Emergency Management Agency, said there were only a few reports of trees knocked down by the weather.

“We were just lucky,” he said. “We did not get as much ice as other areas did.”

Penelec spokesman Dennis Platt said during the height of the storm, a total of 4,500 customers in Cambria, Somerset and Indiana counties lost power.

The majority of those customers were in Indiana County.

Most of the customers had power restored within 29 minutes, he said.

Platt said that in light of the storm, Penelec is satisfied with the integrity of its distribution system and is pleased with the work of the linesmen in restoring power.

Sam Romano, assistant manager of PennDOT’s Cambria County shed, said crews were able to keep pace all day with the wintry weather.

They only had a small number of complaints about roadways, he said Wednesday night.

“Things are going pretty well despite the weather,” he said.

Frank Bendick, assistant manager for PennDOT’s Somerset shed, likewise said crews were able to keep up with the storm.

He said they received plenty of ice during the storm.

“It was ugly this morning, but it’s pretty much gone now,” he said Wednesday night.

He said sunshine during the afternoon helped road conditions.

It started snowing around

5 p.m., he said. The sudden burst of snow coated roadways, but crews had it under control, he said.

Andrew Ulrich, a meteorologist with AccuWeather in State College, said the Johnstown region received one-tenth of an inch of ice Tuesday and three-tenths of an inch of ice on Wednesday.

The Johnstown region and a few counties to its east received the most ice because the cold air became trapped in the valleys, he said.

He said 2 or 3 inches of snow was expected by daybreak today with an additional

3 inches possible during the remainder of the day.

It also will be windy today, he said.

Another storm is in the making for Saturday, he said.

Depending on the path of the storm, the region will see either sleet and freezing rain or a prolonged period of snow, he said.