Hurricane Irene battered Chester County for 2 days, placing many in peril. About 7 inches of rain fell, high winds whipped through the county, streams and rivers flooded, roads were closed and thousands of residents lost electric, in some cases for days. The well-being of many residents was placed at risk because of the fury of the storm. Now is the time to thank the many emergency services workers, fire and police department members and other community-minded individuals for their brave efforts. The Chester County Emergency Operations Center was opened for 40 hours to coordinate response …
Still closed in Tredyffrin: *Boutiller Rd. remains closed. The township website it may be closed for one or two more days to allow for inspections. *Old Eagle School Road between Strafford and Pugh was reported as still closed by PennDOT but "being worked on" by a spokesman for State Representative Warren Kampf. Now open in Tredyffrin: *Central Ave. by Delaware Valley Friends School is open. A spokesman for Represnetative Warren Kampf (R-PA 157) reports: *Yellow Springs road is reopened on by Knox covered bridge in Valley Forge National Park is now open. *West Valley Road is now open…
Trees were brought down all over Tredyffrin and Easttown during and in the einds following Hurricane Irene.
A huge tree limb came crashing down on a car, crushing most of it and blocking Orchard Lane in Berwyn. There were no reported injuries, but part of the road remained blocked as of Monday evening. Orchard Lane is a semi-circle that intersects Old Lancaster Ave. at both ends, so cars were still able to get into and out of the neighborhood. Click on the video clip to see what happened, and the ironic sign on the front yard of the home. (The sign was up before the hurricane). Many roads remain closed by downed trees and power lines in Tredyffrin and Easttown. If your street is still closed, or …
As the clean up from Hurricane Irene continued all over Tredyffrin and Easttown, many roads remained closed on Tuesday morning. Among the roads still blocked by trees is Yellow Springs Road in Valley Forge National Park. The Park Sevice posted a tweet just before 9 Tuesday morning that reads "Route 252 and Yellow Springs Road remain closed this morning. No word as of yet when they will reopen." If you have a tree still blocking your street or if you drive past a blocked street Tuesday in Tredyffrin or Easttown, post a note in the comments section. Help Patch spread the word. Just let us know …
SEPTA’s Paoli/Thorndale regional rail line (formerly the R5), suspended since Saturday afternoon because of Hurricane Irene, will resume operations with its first scheduled train around 5 a.m. Tuesday, a spokeswoman told Patch Monday afternoon. The first Center City-bound train due at Paoli station is scheduled for 5:20 a.m. The firstwestbound train is due at Paoli at 6:22 a.m. “It’s an Amtrak line that we operate, and we needed to wait for clearance from Amtrak to re-open Paoli/Thorndale for service,” said Heather Redfern, press officer for SEPTA. “They had to check for any sort of track …
A crew was working to clear a huge tree that fell across Central Ave. by Delaware Valley Friends School in Paoli. Neighbors tell Patch the tree came down sometime mid-day Sunday, after the intense rains from Irene had subsided but while the winds were still gusting.
SEPTA's Paoli-Thorndale Regional Rail Line service was still suspended as of 1 p.m. Monday. The rails and power lines are owned by Amtrak which needed to inspect and clear the Main Line track beds before restarting service. A posting on Amtrak's website indicates that the Ketystone train service between Philadelphia and Harrisburg will resume in both directions after 3 p.m. Monday. Those trains operate on the same tracks as SEPTA's Paoli-Thorndale line. SEPTA has not said when it expects regional rail service along the Paoli-Thorndale Line to resume. Amtrak trains from Philadelphia north to…
Tell us about the situation in your neighborhood this morning. Is your power still out? How about downed trees or flooded basements? Tell us in the comments section or send your photos to the editor: Bob.Byrne@Patch.Com.
Hurricane Irene left the greater Philadelphia area on Sunday morning, leaving behind a number of damages in several towns with her. Flooding Some areas like Plymouth-Whitemarsh experienced some of the most severe flooding. The Schuylkill River in West Conshohocken overflowed into business and corporate centers, parking lots, the Conshohocken SEPTA station and apartment/condominium complexes. In addition to train tracks and numerous other items including cars, a small, short-haired brown dog was found floating in the water at Bicentennial Park in Plymouth. In the Marple and Media border, …
The President of Valley Forge Military Academysays the campus and cadets are all doing well after Hurricane Irene swept throgh the area. Just after noon Sunday he posted the following note on Facebook: Dear VFMA&C Community, Earthquake…check. Hurricane…check. We are happy to report to you that all cadets, faculty and staff at Valley Forge Military Academy & College are safe and sound. We have experienced many of the same disruptions common to the hurricane, but we are pleased to report that no major building damage was sustained. We will spend the rest of today assessing the situation, …
Berwyn Fire Company was called to evacuate 12 people on Richards Road in the Glenhardie section of Tredyffrin. Send us your photos of storm damage. You can post them or simply email the editor: Bob.Byrne@Patch.com
The National Weather Service has extended theflash flood warning for Chester, Bucks, Montgomery, Philadelphia and surrounding counties until 11:30 a.m. Sunday. At 5:18 a.m. Sunday, the NWS said its Doppler Radar indicated bands of heavy rain from Hurricane Irene continuing to circulate over southern and central New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania. The NWS said three to eight inches have already fallen across the warned area and additional rainfall amounts of one to two inches are expected through about midday. With the heavy amount of rain, creeks and rivers in the area pose major flood …
Residential evacuations are reported underway in the Glenharde community of Tredyffrin Township. The call for water rescue teams at Gulph and Richards Road went out around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. The low lying area is flood prone. Just after 7 p.m. Saturday Trout Creek, which twists and turns through the neighborhoods in Northeast Tredyffrin Township, was already running high and fast. The ground around the creek bed is also saturated and at least one driveway that is within a few hundred feet of the creek was already flooded out. Berwyn Fire Chief Matt Norris told Patch on Saturday morning that …
UPDATED 12:30 p.m. Hurricane Irene is no longer classified as a hurricane. She is now known as Tropical Storm Irene and will continue to push up over the Hudson Valley, but her effects will continue to be felt throughout our region as we experience 30 mph winds with gusts to near 50 mph later Sunday afternoon. If you are walking around outside, use caution as the high winds can still knock down large tree limbs and power lines. Our area should not receive much more rainfall throughout the remainder of the day as the system continues to move northward. There may be the occasional light shower …
Even before Hurricane Irene arrived in Berwyn it had already been a long day for the chiefs of Paoli and Berwyn Fire Companies. They were both on hand for a 7:30 a.m. meeting of Tredyffrin Township officials. Twelve hours later Berwyn Chief Matt Norris was talking to TE Patch for a second time. The Chief was in the middle of showing Patch how a full complement of volunteers was at the station, ready to serve if the call came in. That's when the first call came in. A report of a downed power line at Waterloo and Beaumont in Easttown. And just like that, the interview was over as the chief and …
The rain started in early afternoon and as the outter bands of Hurricane Irene started approaching Southeastern Pennsylvania, the rain started pouring then ebbing. Heavy downpours followed by calmer periods. TE Patch Blogger sent us this video shot on Walnut Street in Berwyn. Send us your video and photos. Let us know what's happening outside your door. You can login and upload or simply send your photos and videos in an email to the editor: Bob.Byrne@Patch.Com. And please, stay safe. No photo or video is worth risking injury.
Tredyffrin Township officials spent the early part of Saturday morning going over final plans for coping with what is expected to be a long night of heavy rain and flooding in parts of the township. Leaders from every department that could be affected by the storm, the chiefs and other officials from the Berwn and Paoli Fire Companies, and some members of the township Board of Supervisors convened at 7:30 Saturday morning for a two hour meeting in the Tredyffrin Municipal Building. On the agenda, making sure the lines of communication among departments are open and coordinated in the run up, …
Forecasters say tropical storm conditions Saturday night and Sunday could bring wind gusts of 60 mph. So, how strong could that wind actually be? The Beaufort Scales are used to measure wind speed. The scale uses a 1 through 12 rating for wind ranging from "Calm" to "Hurricane" force. Here are some of the ratings: Near Gale (32-38 mph) - Whole trees in motion, inconvenience in walking. Gale (39-46 mph) - Difficult to walk against wind. Twigs and small branches blown off trees. Strong Gale (47-54 mph) - Minor structural damage may occur (shingles blown off roofs). Storm (55-63 mph) - Trees …
State Representative Warren Kampf (R-PA157) has posted information you may want to have handy before, during and after Hurricane Irene's expected arrival on the Upper Main Line. Information You’ll Need as the Storm Approaches As Hurricane Irene approaches the Mid-Atlantic states this weekend, I want to share information on what to do in case of flooding. Hurricane Irene is expected to hit New Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania as, at minimum, a tropical storm or Category 1 hurricane. Expect large amounts of rain (5-plus inches) and high winds that can damage property. Mobile homes, whether …
