Christmas Wind Storm Takes Out Trees, Power In Delco, Chesco

PHOENIXVILLE, PA — More than 140 Chester County residents were still without power at noon on Monday, after heavy rain and winds hit the area hard right on Christmas, leaving thousands in the dark on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Phoenixville's downtown Christmas tree toppled on Christmas Eve in a public display of the disheartening storm that made the pandemic-marred holiday seem worse for many. Jared Greene snapped a photo of the tall Christmas tree toppled at the corner of Bridge and Main streets in Phoenixville.

Greene posted the photo on social media and borough residents expressed their dismay, saying, "It's depressing," and "Totally fitting for this year! Please end 2020."

Some had a little humor to offer: "It's been a long year. The tree just needs a nap," and "Hopefully the elves will fix it soon."

Another resident posted a photo of how the Christmas tree had been secured beneath the downtown sidewalk, with dirt, bricks, and rope, all of which failed against the near-gale-force winds.

The National Weather Service reported wind gusts of 44 miles per hour on Christmas Eve in the region. Those gusts were even stronger on Christmas Day, hitting more than 50 miles per hour in the Philadelphia area, and wind speeds of 38 miles per hour.

And it rained. About 3 inches of rain fell in Chester County over Christmas, the NWS reported. Snow from the prior week's storm was melting, and flood watches went out on Christmas Eve.

As trees blew down and took wires with them, Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware counties saw blocked roadways, power loss, and flooding. The Greater Philadelphia area saw more than 60,000 without power, and many of those outages were in Chester, Montgomery, and Delaware counties. On Christmas night, more than 4,500 Chesco residents still had no power, PECO reported. Delaware County had over 5,000 without power on the night of Dec. 25, and Montco around 2,500.

Delaware County's 911 system reported "operational delays" the evening of Dec. 24, Radnor Township officials reported.

"The loss of emergency communication impacted Radnor Township Police, Fire, and EMS dispatch operators. The Radnor Township Police Department immediately formed a multi-disciplinary team, including IT and emergency operations professionals, to respond to emergency calls from our community," the township reported.

Ted Merriman sent Patch this video of emergency responders outside his Radnor Township home on Christmas Eve.