Storm downs trees, cuts power for 30,000

Severe storms swept through overnight, toppling trees, cutting off power for more than 30,000 homes and businesses, and even flipping planes at a Trenton area airport.

Cleanup efforts could face delays, and even further damage is possible into this evening, with gusts ranging up to 45 m.p.h., according to an advisory from the National Weather Service.

This afternoon, the Delaware River Port Authority temporarily banned empty container trucks on the Betsy Ross Bridge because of high winds.

Earlier, downed trees, utility poles and debris blocked roadways throughout the area.

They included Roosevelt Boulevard (Route 1) at Whitaker Avenue in Philadelphia; both Maple Avenue (Route 213) and Langhorne Yardley Road in Middletown Township; Conshohocken State Road (Route 23) in Lower Merion; as well roads in Pottstown, Mount Laurel, Monroe Township and Marlborough Township.

Slick roads, with wet leaves and debris, may have contributed to a host of accidents - on Route 42 North past I-295, the Vine Street Expressway (I-676) in Philadelphia, Route 1 Media Bypass at Baltimore Pike, and in the city's Port Richmond section, Plymouth Township, West Pikeland and Greenwich Township.

Some traffic lights were out as well, including on Route 30 in Lower Merion and at the Black Horse Pike (Rt. 168) and Nicholson Road in Audubon, N.J.

Gusts peaked between 3 and 4 a.m. throughout the region, topping 50 m.p.h. in Northampton, London Grove, Dover and Ewing, N.J., where three small planes were flipped and a section of a hangar's roof was ripped away at Trenton Mercer Airport, according to the National Weather Service.

Gusts reached 65 m.p.h. in Bear, Del., windows were knocked out of an old factory in the Northeast, and shingles were blown off the roof at the Hampton Inn in Yardley.

As for power outages, Bucks County was hardest hit, with more than 9,00 homes and businesses in the dark this morning, according to PECO. Another 8,000 customers were also without service throughout the area, mostly in Philadelphia and Chester County, according to spokeswoman Karen Muldoon Geus.

By 11 a.m., power was restored to all but 5,000, most in Bucks County. PECO was concerned, though, that as winds pick up today, more problems could arise, so customers are asked to report downed wires or service interruptions by calling 215-841-4141.

More than 14,000 South Jersey residences and businesses were also without power, mostly in Camden, Gloucester and Burlington Counties. About 8,000 get power from PSE&G, another 6,000 from Atlantic City Electric.

At the peak, 11,000 PSE&G customers had service interruptions, said spokeswoman Bonnie Sheppard.

For up-to-date traffic information, go to http://go.philly.com/traffic.