Sep 16, 2008 11:18 am US/Eastern
Thousands Remain Without Power In Pittsburgh Area
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ―
Tens of thousands of people in the Pittsburgh area are still without power and it looks like many of them could be living in the dark for a few more days.
Crews from power companies have been working around the clock to restore service, but as the hours pass by, residents are growing more frustrated.
In Fineview, a toppled tree is resting on power lines and it worries neighbors.
"My main concern is that tree. I'm afraid for that tree to fall down and then it hit my wires and then hit the house or whatever, bust out my windows – that's what I'm more afraid of," a woman tells KDKA.
Across the street, James Badamo lives off two machines which keep him breathing while he tries to sleep. Tonight they'll run on batteries but he doesn't know how long they'll last.
"I stop breathing when I sleep and I need the machine so I don't quit breathing," Badamo said.
A spokesman for Penn Power says about 55,350 customers in Cranberry, New Castle and Mercer County don't have electricity.
They're calling in crews from the east to help. All power could be restored by Thursday.
Duquesne Light was working to restore power to approximately 24,000 customers.
They are calling on crews from around the country to help them with the cleanup.
Joseph Vallarian says they have more than 1,000 cases of wires down.
Allegheny Power says it has 32,000 customers without power at last report.
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