<p>The recent storm, which brought more than a foot of snow to parts of the Midwest and East on Tuesday and Wednesday, has knocked out power to over 1 million people across the region, according to USA Today.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Pennsylvania is feeling the brunt of the storm as ice-covered tree limbs have crashed down on power lines in parts of the state leaving more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians without power today. Nearly 1 million electric customers in the state were without power at one point, with most of the outages in the Philadelphia area.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Grower/shippers tell us that this most recent storm as well as the previous winter weather systems are taking their toll on produce working its way in and around the Midwest and East Coast.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Randy Giumarra, Vice President of Sales, Giumarra International Marketing, tells AndNowUKnow, “These winter storms have been a nuisance and have been inconvenient in terms of unloading vessels in a timely matter. There have been a few transportation challenges in and around Philadelphia but where there has been more strain from the weather is in distribution up and down the Eastern seaboard.” </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Traffic delays from ice, snow and road closures have impeded travel for trucks moving through states like North and South Carolina and Georgia, who just aren’t prepared for these storms Giumarra tells us. “Many companies have gotten behind in rotation in terms of freight by as many as two days or more. But we’re still working and shipping grapes and stone fruit regardless of the weather,” he notes.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Rick Feighery, Vice President of Sales for Procacci Brothers in Philadelphia, tells AndNowUKnow that there were more than 600,000 customers without power at the height of the storm.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Most main roads have been cleared but some streets have been temporarily closed due to downed trees and power lines.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“It's a challenge on a lot of different fronts,” Feighery notes. “We have customers today whose stores aren't open because they are still without power. We have been in situations like this before and are doing the best we can to keep the trucks moving."</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Another storm system could sweep across the region Saturday and Sunday. Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we follow the weather challenges this winter.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/06/storm-power-outages-pennsylvania/5251161" target="_new">USA Today</a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
