PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Authorities in suburban Philadelphia were investigating three suspected weather-related deaths Wednesday in the wake of a storm that dumped more than a foot of snow in some places and was accompanied by bone-chilling temperatures and icy winds.
Ridley Township police said a 93-year-old woman and an 89-year-old man died in separate incidents. Details on the woman’s death were not immediately released, but police said the man had Alzheimer’s disease and died after wandering outside overnight during the bitterly cold snowstorm clad only in underwear.
The man’s family realized he wasn’t in the home and found him in a neighbor’s yard. He was rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead early Wednesday, police said.
Swarthmore police said a 67-year-old man’s death was suspected to be connected to the storm. No further details have been released.
The Delaware County coroner will conduct autopsies on the three victims to determine the causes of death.
Throughout Pennsylvania, residents faced a long, cold cleanup in the aftermath of the storm.
“We were hit pretty directly with the brunt of this storm,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter told reporters Wednesday, a day after about 14 inches of snow fell, prompting closure of city offices and early dismissal of public school students.
Still, the mayor vowed, “We will be open for business tomorrow.”
Philadelphia has gotten 33.7 inches of snow so far this season and for the first time ever has had three snowfalls of six inches or more before Feb. 1.
Forecasters issued wind chill advisories. The high temperature Thursday was expected to be only 14 to 16 degrees with 15 to 20 mph winds gusting to 30 mph.
Salting and brining of roads loses effectiveness as the temperature drops below 20 degrees, which presented a challenge for cleanup. Nutter said city crews hoped to get primary roads cleared down to the blacktop, and try to get 80 percent of residential streets “passable.”
“This will be a marathon cleanup effort that will stretch, more than likely, into Saturday before we consider our work done,” he said.
Elsewhere, almost 15 inches fell in Delaware County, and as much as a foot in other surrounding counties. Allentown in Lehigh County got 7 inches while some other parts of the state saw 5 to 10 inches.
At Philadelphia International Airport, 155 passengers who missed connecting flights because of the storm were given pillows, blankets and sleeping mats as well as food and water, and several merchants remained open overnight for their needs, airport spokeswoman Victoria Lupica said. All were being accommodated or rescheduled by their airlines Wednesday morning.
Airport crews were working to clear walkways, access roads and parking lots, as well as runways. Lupica said the two primary runways were open and planes were arriving and departing as usual, but airlines were still reporting about 100 canceled flights Wednesday morning.
Nutter asked residents to report anyone homeless or staying on the street so they could be taken to safety in shelters. And, he asked residents for patience and to avoid travel, if possible.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done. There are extreme temperatures out there,” Nutter said. “I know the tendency is that everyone - many are off - they’ll want to go to all kinds of places. The less traffic we have, the better we’re able to get the city back into shape for tomorrow.”
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Information from: Delaware County Daily Times, https://www.delcotimes.com
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