Power-Less Spend Another Night At Shelter

Four days after the rare October snowstorm that snapped trees and caused widespread power outages, several people continued to seek refuge at a shelter in South Whitehall.

Red Cross spokeswoman Janice Osborne said that as of 9 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 people were preparing to spend the night at Parkland's building on North Cedar Crest Boulevard, where Lehigh County had established the .

On Monday, 61 people and two dogs had sought shelter there.

"We're going to stay open as long as people need us," said Chris Kelly, battalion chief with Lehigh County Special Operations.

The shelter was serving three meals, snacks and beverages each day, and rows of cots had been set up in the large rooms available at the building. Board games and movies were available.

On Tuesday, people came and went, seeking food, a bed and comraderie. 

Elaine Gallagher, of Coopersburg, was among those who sought refuge at the shelter in the afternoon. She said she had been "roughing it" at her home, which had been without power since Saturday. She said she had been eating at restaurants, and slept on a neighbor's couch one night and in her home another without heat. 

"I'm tired. It's emotionally draining," she said. "Just the simple things you can't do -- like make a cup of tea."

So that's what she did at the shelter -- made tea -- then left in mid-afternoon to see if power had yet been restored to her home. She was hopeful, because shelter volunteers had told her that PPL Electric Utilities were not reporting outages in her area. It wasn't clear, though, if the initial outages had even been reported.

A 62-year-old Allentown man who was at the shelter with his 82-year-old mother had arrived Monday, after it became too uncomfortable to remain at home without heat and use of their refrigerator. 

He said they had been sleeping with their winter coats and three blankets.

At the shelter, where he planned to spend another night, "Everybody's been just super," he said.