Corbett tours Upper Bucks shelter, urges patience, action
Bucks and Montgomery counties took the brunt of superstorm Sandy, the governor said. Utilities will be pushed to restore power to 189,000 residents still without electricity -- including shelters and emergency centers. rso9
"Our power's been out since 11 p.m. Monday," said Victoria Gischel, 38, of Upper Black Eddy. "The transformer outside our house blew up."
Gischel and her family – her husband and five children, ages 10 to 21 – have been staying in their house, "but I brought the kids here to warm up and get something hot to eat," she said.
They have a small generator, but they haven't hooked it up to the TV yet she said.
"We've been playing a lot of card games and stay huddled under blankets."
Like much of Upper Bucks, Gischel's yard had several toppled trees, but her house was not damaged by superstorm Sandy.
Many residents in this rural part of the county get their drinking water from wells that require electric pumps. On Wednesday, a tanker truck outside the shelter provided fresh water for those who brought bottles.
About 4 p.m., the township provided ice in the parking lot. And a shipment of military-grade MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) for residents to take home was scheduled to arrive.
Cathy Leidtke, who runs a food pantry for low-income families at St. John R.C. Church, said she's been giving out canned and package goods, but no meats, because there's no electric to cook.
"I've got freezers filled with thousands of dollars of meat – we just got a shipment Friday – and I'll need generators soon if the power isn't restored."
Some families have gas generators, while many cannot afford them, she said. Those with generators have to "pick and choose" what to use the electricity for, since most generators are not large enough to power an entire house and only run for a few hours before needing more gasoline.
Most residents have septic tanks, so they can flush toilets without power, Liedtke said. Those with "sand mounds" in their yards need electricity to pump the waste out of their homes.
The semi-retired golf cart mechanic has a gas generator to power the refrigerator- freezer "and a few other odds and ends, but not [a pump for] water and not the heater," he said.