As snow melts, storm cleanup continues

Ed Mahon

- emahon@centredaily.com

PATTON TOWNSHIP — Allison Albinski awoke early Friday morning to the sound of a tree crashing into her roof.

Photo provided

Allison Albinski’s house on Oakley Drive in Park Forest was damaged in last week’s storm.

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She gathered her mom, Ethel, and four dogs and tried to go out the front of her Park Forest home, but the tree blocked the exit. So she headed out the back, where the weight of the snow was pushing down more branches, and drove to a friend’s house.

“It was very scary,” said Albinski, who returned to her damaged home to pick up clothes and a few other items Sunday afternoon.

Much of the snow had melted from her street, most of the homes had regained power, and the Red Cross and Salvation Army were preparing to shut down an impromptu shelter at nearby Park Forest Elementary School.

But the effects of Thursday’s storm were still apparent on Albinski’s street, Oakley Drive, as neighbors cleaned up yards, used chainsaws to cut off fallen tree limbs, and dumped piles of the branches in front of their curbs.

Albinski’s home was the hardest hit on her street. The falling tree punctured a hole in her roof, and contractors told her it could be two months before she’s able to move back in because of the water and structural damage. The rain and snow fell into her living room, damaging electronics and a photo album. Still, she considers herself fortunate.

“Ultimately, I’m lucky. Nobody got hurt. We had a place to go,” she said. And she believes insurance will cover most of the expenses.

More than 27,500 customers in Centre County had electrical service interrupted because of the storm, said Allegheny Power spokeswoman Janice Lantz.

“They’re estimating they’ll have everybody back in service by midnight,” Lantz said.

She said crews faced a number of challenges after Thursday's initial snowstorm.

"The main thing was it continued to snow after the storm. So we were continuing to pick up outages. ... Access to some areas has been a problem for us because of the snow and trees,” she said.

By 3 p.m. Sunday, about 900 households were without power, Lantz said. More than 600 of those homes had been without power since Thursday.

The shelter at Park Forest Elementary School hosted one person overnight Friday, seven overnight Saturday and 15 for breakfast on Sunday.

By 9 p.m., less than 20 Centre County homes — in Bellefonte, Centre Hall, Julian, Port Matilda and the State College area — were without electricity.

“It’s been a quiet day,” said Bob Barry, who volunteered at the shelter for three days, on Sunday afternoon. The volunteers shut down the shelter at 6:30 p.m.

During the course of the weekend, the shelter provided services to more than 50 people, said Shawn Kauffman, the emergency management coordinator for the Centre Region Council of Governments. Salvation Army volunteers also delivered meals.

From Saturday night into Sunday morning, temperatures dropped to 34 degrees in the State College area, said Alan Reppert, senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. He said the Pine Grove Mills area experienced some slight snowfall, but not enough to stick. The high on Sunday approached 50 degrees, and the rest of the week is expected to be warmer with rain possible Friday.

Around 3:45 p.m. Sunday, Hal Ohnmeis pulled tree branches from his backyard to the front curb. He had a pile taller than him and as long as two cars. The rest of the street looked the same.

Ohnmeis’ home lost power around 3:15 a.m. Friday. Ohnmeis, Albinski’s neighbor, walked outside Friday morning when he saw that her home had been damaged.

“Every three minutes, you could hear a tree fall,” he said.

He didn’t regain power until 9:15 a.m. Sunday, so he and his wife, Marilyn, headed out to a restaurant on Saturday to escape the cold.

When they returned, he said, the smell of kerosene from portable heaters being used by neighbors “was heavy in the air. It was really thick.”