Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. line crews have been on the job since early Saturday evening (5/11), working to restore service to more than 49,000 who were left without electricity in the wake of violent thunderstorms.

Hardest hit by the storms were the Harrisburg, Lehigh Valley and Hazleton areas. Crews from the company's Lancaster region, which sustained less damage than other areas, were being sent to the other regions to help in the restoration efforts.

As of 9 p.m., about 27,000 customers remained out of service.

Crews will be working around the clock until all customers are returned to service. Barring unforeseen problems, the company anticipates that all customers should be back in service by late Sunday afternoon.

While the weather front which swept through the company's 29-county service area early Saturday evening contained severe lightning and heavy rain, it was the high winds that caused the damage to company lines. Most of the damage resulted from trees toppling onto lines.