Good Evening, as we prepare for the second Nor'easter on Wednesday please see the important message below from the Chester County Department of Emergency Services. As always you can sign up to receive important alerts through the Ready Chesco web site, www.readychesco.org

Good Afternoon:
This is the afternoon update as we continue to clean up from the Nor’easter. There are currently just over 6,800 customers without power in the county and the utility companies have crews out restoring power as fast as they can.
We continue to encourage you not to call 9-1-1 to report your power is out. Be sure to call your electric utility to report your power is out.
Safety Reminders:
• If there are downed lines on your property, do not touch them! Report them to your utility company.
• If you come across a roadway that is barricaded – do not drive around the barricade or move the barricade.
If you are one of those customers that still do not have electric – please visit the Outage Map on the PECO app or in your browser: www.peco.com/outagemap They will post estimated restoration times as they become available. Please remember to report your outage every 8 hours even if you have already reported it. This continues to help PECO understand where the outages remain.
You can reach PECO by phone at 1-800-841-4141
For those of you that are not PECO customers here are those phone numbers:
PP&L – 800-342-5755
MetEd – 888-544-4877

From the Health Department:

Once Power is Restored . . .

Determine the safety of your food:
1. If an appliance thermometer was kept in the freezer, check the temperature when the power comes back on. If the freezer thermometer reads 40° F or below, the food is safe and may be refrozen.
2. If a thermometer has not been kept in the freezer, check each package of food to determine its safety. You can’t rely on appearance or odor. If the food still contains ice crystals or is 40° F or below, it is safe to refreeze or cook.
3. Refrigerated food should be safe as long as the power was out for no more than 4 hours and the refrigerator door was kept shut. Discard any perishable food (such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, or leftovers) that has been at temperatures above 40° F for 2 hours or more (or 1 hour if temperatures are above 90º F).

Perishable food such as meat, poultry, seafood, milk, and eggs that are not kept adequately refrigerated or frozen may cause illness if consumed, even when they are thoroughly cooked.

For more information about what to save and what to throw out, visit: https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/refridg_food.html