High winds, with gusts of more than 50 miles per hour, are causing scattered power outages across Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.'s service area in eastern and central Pennsylvania Thursday morning (3/6).

At 10 a.m., about 13,000 PP&L customers were without power. Most of the problems were in the eastern portions of PP&L's service area, including the Lehigh Valley and Pike and Wayne counties in northeastern Pennsylvania.

"We have PP&L line crews ready and available to respond to customer reports of power outages," said Robert M. Geneczko, PP&L vice president for Electrical Systems. "We are responding to calls as quickly as possible. We appreciate our customers' patience because we are receiving a lot of damage calls."

PP&L crews have restored power to about 6,000 customers since the winds picked up over night.

High winds cause a number of problems for PP&L power lines. The most common problem is broken tree limbs and branches falling into power lines.

Geneczko encouraged any PP&L customers without electricity to call the company's toll-free telephone number, 1-800-DIAL PPL (1-800- 342-5775), and report the problem. Those calls help PP&L pinpoint the source of trouble.

He also urged people to stay away from wires on the ground, even if they look "dead." To assure safety, he said people should call PP&L's toll-free telephone number immediately to report downed wires, and keep others away from the wires.

Winds are expected to continue throughout the day. PP&L will make sure that crews are available to respond to power outages as quickly as possible.