HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHP) \u2014 Harrisburg residents\u2013like those all across central Pennsylvania\u2013are picking up the pieces after storms tore through the area on the Fourth of July.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounded like there was a tornado,\u201d said midtown resident Madelle Pierce. \u201cI’m glad it didn\u2019t hit me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite what it sounded like, Meteorologist Ed Russo said there was no tornadic activity\u2014just straight-line winds.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean the damage wasn\u2019t severe, with trees still down and tens of thousands without power<\/a> in Harrisburg and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n GALLERY | <\/a>Fallen trees, wires through central Pennsylvania after Fourth of July storms<\/a><\/p>\n Just across the street from Pierce\u2019s home, tree limbs came crashing down onto wires and a car in the middle of Verbeke Street. Nearly 1,000 PPL customers in that neighborhood are still without power as of Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n PPL said it brought in extra crews from Canada and surrounding states to help with the widespread outages.<\/p>\n Hilary Holmes said a friend of hers lives on Verbeke Street and lost power in the storm. She visited Sunday afternoon to help out.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn’t have power,\u201d Holmes said, \u201cSo he asked me to take the things from his refrigerator and keep them for my own so that they don’t get wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n Another Harrisburg resident, Chris Butcher, said he’s also experiencing a power outage.<\/p>\n He said it was cooler outside than inside, so he was out walking around, checking out the damage at Verbeke Street.<\/p>\n \u201cOur home is without power. And the estimate? The first estimate we got said Tuesday, which is like, thanks,\u201d Butcher said with a laugh. \u201cAnd then the second estimate is like, maybe Thursday… But what do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n Jane George of PPL said this was one of the top 10 storms in the history of the company, which has been operating since 1920.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThat’s why it’s an all hands on deck,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n She said PPL has a system for how it prioritizes outage reports, starting with critical infrastructure, then inspections of power lines and substations before moving on to areas with difficult repairs, starting with places that report the most outages.<\/p>\n READ MORE | Severe storms cause more than 130,000 outages in Central Pennsylvania<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThe best advice I can give to customers and your viewers is to constantly watch that outage map<\/a>, because it changes as our crews are on site and making the necessary repairs,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n We have brought in over a thousand additional personnel to help us so that we will restore every customer, and we won’t stop until they’re all restored.<\/p>\n Another street that saw damage in Harrisburg was Vaughn Street, where a tree toppled into someone\u2019s front yard.<\/p>\n A passing driver who lives in the area said it\u2019s not the first time a tree has fallen in this same yard. Years ago, he said, a tree fell into the home\u2019s front window.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can see nature doesn’t play around,\u201d he said. \u201cBut fortunately, God has been with us because no one’s been hurt that I’m aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n Metal frames, road blocks and tree limbs are also still scattered around Harrisburg\u2019s Riverfront Park, where Fourth of July festivities were disrupted by the storm.<\/p>\n READ MORE | Fireworks canceled in Harrisburg after food truck festival disrupted by thunderstorms<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI was so worried that people got hurt because all of the vendors’ structures were in the bushes, and like the orange things were down,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cIt was terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Wanda Williams said the city will reschedule its fireworks. <\/p>\n PPL is offering to reimburse customers who lost power for their ice and water purchases. Click here<\/a> to find more information, and click here to view the PPL outage map<\/a>.<\/p>\n Met-Ed is also giving out free water and ice to its customers without power. Click here<\/a> for more information, and click here<\/a> to view the Met-Ed outage map<\/a>.<\/p>\n