Power slowly returning to the 849K left in dark

February 6, 2014 at 9:33a.m.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Utility crews have been working through the night to try to restore power to customers following an ice storm that left more than 849,000 Pennsylvania households and businesses without electricity.

PECO reported more than 423,000 customers still without power before dawn today in the five-county Philadelphia region, down from a high total of more than 600,000. FirstEnergy is reporting almost 53,000 customers without power, most of them in York County. PPL is reporting more than 20,000, almost all of them in Lancaster County.

Gov. Tom Corbett has signed a disaster emergency proclamation, freeing up state agencies to use all available resources and personnel to respond to Wednesday’s storm, but he warns that “people are going to have to have some patience.”