Irene's Effects Linger

Once the clouds parted early Sunday evening, revealing sunlight for the first time in nearly two days, Bethlehem was finally able to sing Good Night, Irene. But the city and the rest of the Lehigh Valley may be feeling the storm’s effects for days.

Power outages continued late into Sunday night and may go on. Some city roads remained closed because of flooding. Uprooted trees damaged at least one home.

But the inconveniences aren't all bad -- if you're a kid, anyway. Bethlehem Area school children get an extra day of summer vacation. No classes today.

As of late Sunday night, PPL Electric Utilities reported that 3,563 customers in Bethlehem remained without power, out of nearly 40,000 customers who remained without electricity Valley-wide. In Bethlehem Township 252 customers had no electricity.

Affected customers appeared to be spread throughout the city in small pockets. One such place was right along Main Street, just south of the apparently unaffected campus.

The east side of the South Bethlehem downtown also went powerless for a chunk of the day, but electricity had been restored before 10 p.m. However, one SouthSide customer tweeted that she had been told that her power would not be restored until Wednesday.

As there were downed trees and tree branches visible all over the city, at least one home on Prospect Avenue, near Ninth Avenue, sustained major damage when a tree fell on it.

Flooding was also a likely plague to some home owners and at least one business, as  had serious flooding to its Mauch Chunk Road headquarters.

Flooding also continued to be an inconvenience to motorists well after the rain had stopped. Route 412, from Fourth Street at Hellertown Road, remained closed south to Commerce Center Boulevard because the flooding waters of the Saucon Creek had not sufficiently receded.

Similarly, Elizabeth Avenue was closed going west of Main Street because the Monocacy Creek had overflowed its banks at Mauch Chunk Road.

The overflowing creeks also forced city officials to evacuate parks – , , and . Cleanup will have to wait until the waters recede.

But as Easton braced itself for a major flood from the Delaware River, it could have been worse. Early on, weather forecasts indicated that the Lehigh River could top its banks in Bethlehem. The forecast was revised early Sunday afternoon as it became clear that the storm was pulling away.

In all, the storm dumped nearly five inches of rain at Lehigh Valley International Airport, where the National Weather Service makes its official readings for this region. Sustained wind speeds topped out at 30 mph, while the highest gust was 48 mph.

The storm led to other inconveniences.

Church services throughout the city and the Valley were cancelled. Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority bus service was cancelled. The ArtsQuest Center at was also

concert, scheduled for Sunday night at the , was postponed until tonight.

The same could be said of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs,, only to decide to play it as part of a doubleheader tonight starting at 6 p.m. at Coca Cola Park.