Residents in more than 100 households in the Tamaqua area and Slatington were left in total darkness as the holiday weekend came to an end.

Emergency crews from PPL were dispatched to the Owl Creek and New England Valley sections of Tamaqua and Walker Township to address power outages affecting 74 households, where blackouts were reported shortly after 6 p.m. Sunday.In a possibly related issue, power flickered on and off at homes in the Wildcat Mountain section of Walker Township, just outside of Tamaqua, according to online reports.The outages occurred just as cold rain began falling in the early evening.According to a PPL website, the outages apparently were caused by tripped breakers and blown fuses. Repairs were completed in several hours Sunday in affected locations in the greater Tamaqua area.Similarly, early evening blackouts affected 28 households in sections of Slatington near West Church and Seventh Street.PPL blamed those outages on tripped breakers and blown fuses.Also, 15 PPL electricity customers in the McAdoo and Audenried sections of northern Schuylkill County were left without power Sunday evening due to a vehicle crash.