Residents In Lehigh Valley Wake Up To More Rain Than Ice After Bracing For Winter Blast
ALLENTOWN, Pa. (CBS) - Residents in the Lehigh Valley were bracing for another blast of winter but they woke up to more rain than ice Tuesday morning. It appears as though they dodged a bullet.
However, all day Monday people were getting ready for what could've been a major ice storm. Local hardware stores say their supplies of salt were nearly depleted.
Meanwhile, PennDOT crews were out Monday pre-treating roads and highways. PennDOT says they have more than 85,000 tons of salt on hand for the five-county surrounding the Philadelphia region. The Lehigh Valley has even more.
This winter is harsher than last winter and owners of hardware stores are welcoming it.
"Compared to last year, we're blowing through salt like you wouldn't believe," Zachary Dries, of Dries Hardware, said. "We got 10 pallets in today of salt and we're down to about four. We had about 20 pallets of salt leftover from last year and we have blown through all those since the last storm we had."
While road conditions are not icy, there is still ponding on the highways, so take it easy.