Residents in Delaware County coping without power in the heat

RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Delaware County (WPVI) - - For the people in Ridley Township, Delaware County, and tens of thousands of others in the region, it's been an uncomfortable past few days living in the heat without power. However, residents have been finding ways to manage.

On the 800 block of Spring Haven Road in Springfield, Delaware County, PECO crews were hard at work to restore power to the neighborhood. At the intersection of Grand Avenue and Hutchinson Terrace in Ridley Township, crews were out in full force working to do the same.

"Three days their power's been out, it's atrocious, but I give them all the credit in the world. Just look at this, they're putting a little thing together," said Steven Bidoli, Ninth Ward Commisioner, in Ridley Township.

With the power still out in the Holmes section of Ridley Township, the community has been setting up chairs for a movie night.

"We are placing a movie on tonight, we have great locals that are donating their generators for us, and we're hoping to have some fun and enjoy it because it's hot and it's a lot to take," said Angelina Bollinger, of Ridley Township.

With soft pretzels delivered, neighbors prepared for a long night outside.

"It's the residents who are doing it all," said Bidoli.

Some are even contemplating sleeping outside.

"We don't even have fans now to put on so I was looking I was sitting on the porch I was thinking maybe I could sleep on the porch," said Marie Palumbizio, of Ridley Township.

Other neighbors said they've been spending most of their time inside sleeping.

"All we can do is go to sleep. Find the bathroom, find everything with a flashlight and just go to bed there's just nothing else to do," said Georgianna Dickson, of Ridley Township.

As the evening got darker crews continued to work to restore power. Many residents dreaded another day without air conditioning.

"It's getting hotter, and I know it's going to get hotter, so it's worrisome," said Dickson.

However, that worry soon faded when the block saw their house lights come on. Power was restored just in time for a good nights sleep, but movie night outside still went on.

"We have a great community and everyone has been helping each other out," said Bollinger.

PECO hopes to have a majority of the outages resolved by Sunday night.