PECO (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.) crews are coordinating restoration efforts with local officials, conducting local damage assessments, and restoring electric and natural gas service in communities when they are able, as flood waters recede. To ensure community safety, service had been terminated as precautionary measures when area rivers and streams flooded parts of the region.

In communities along the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers, PECO disconnected more than 1500 electric services and turned off natural gas to 570 customers in Bucks, Montgomery and Chester counties where floodwaters presented an imminent safety concern.

PECO has field supervisors with energy technicians, troublemen and gas mechanics staged at local command centers in each county. Beginning Thursday morning, PECO workers began restoring service to those areas where the waters had receded, mainly along the Schuylkill and its tributaries. The company is only able to restore service after officials and inspectors deem it safe to do so. Electric service to customers in the Manayunk section of Philadelphia was being restored shortly before noon.

In other areas along the Delaware River, PECO is waiting for waters to recede before beginning restoration work. The river is expected to crest later today with waters above flood level at least for another day or so.

Where utility service was proactively shut off for safety reasons, it could be a matter of several days before both electric and gas service is restored for everyone, depending on local conditions and the pace of inspections. The possibility of additional service interruptions due to predicted thunderstorms could also delay the process. PECO is marshaling service personnel with support from area contractors to immediately respond to any storm outages. Expected thunderstorms and high winds will likely result in downed poles and wires because the ground is so saturated from the continuous rains of the past week.

At its emergency response center in Plymouth Meeting, PECO is coordinating the restoration efforts, while at the same time making preparations to respond to other calls in the event a predicted thunderstorm strikes later in the day.

PECO field crews and call center employees have been working extended hours for nearly a week straight, since the first of the rains spawned by the stalled low-pressure front began dropping on the region last Friday.