Severe storms swept through Schuylkill County early Wednesday evening, leaving a trail of damage and widespread power outages. The storms, which began around 5:45 p.m., caused significant damage across the entire county, impacting thousands of residents.
As of Friday morning, 1,961 homes still remain without power, with PPL reporting that these homes and businesses should have their power restored sometime Friday.
Schuylkill County 911 Director Scott Krater reported that the 911 center received nearly 500 calls in just over two hours between 5:45 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. In total, the center handled 499 calls: 226 through the 911 emergency line, 190 through the non-emergency line, and 83 administrative calls. These calls included requests for fire, police, and EMS assistance.
Notably, the call volume between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. accounted for 50% of the entire day's calls, putting immense pressure on the 911 center's resources. The dedicated team of six employees, supported by a trainee, worked tirelessly to manage the high call volume and coordinate emergency responses.