Hurricane Sandy, which brought devastation and darkness to 17 states along the East Coast Monday night and Tuesday, forced the closing of most Lehigh Valley schools and many roads throughout the Northwestern community.

School District Superintendent Dr. Mary Anne Wright wrote on the district website at 6:45 p.m. Oct. 30 schools would remain closed Oct. 31.

"As of 6 p.m. this evening, our district continues to be without power in all of our buildings, as well as water, phone, and internet," wrote Wright and Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Holman. "The power companies do not have an estimated time when we can expect power to be restored."

Families and businesses in the four Northwestern townships; Albany Township, Berks County; South Whitehall; Whitehall; Walnutport and Allentown were just some of those affected by the hurricane's strong winds and rains.

Sandy was also responsible for the death of an elderly South Whitehall woman.

Theresa Schlitzer, 86, of 2425 Route 309, Orefield, South Whitehall Township, was found unresponsive in her yard after prolonged exposure to the extreme weather from Hurricane Sandy after 10:30 p.m. Oct. 29, according to Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim.

Deputy Coroner Jason Nicholas pronounced Schlitzer dead at 9:45 a.m. Oct. 30, at her home.

Grim said her cause of death was attributed to hypothermia and he ruled the manner of her death an accident.

Sandy is said to have claimed 51 lives since it came ashore just south of Atlantic City, N.J. around 8 p.m. Monday.

Downed trees and wires dotted roadways from Washington Township to the Parkland area.

The top half of one utility pole remained dangling precariously, suspended by a wire, in the middle of Mosserville Road, Lynn Township, as late as Halloween morning.

While Decatur Street in front of Ebenezer United Church of Christ, New Tripoli, was open for travel Tuesday, by 5 a.m. Wednesday , a PennDOT truck was sitting in the driveway and a barricade blocked the road through town.

"In addition, there are several district roads that remain closed due to down trees and/or wires," Wright wrote. "We will need four to six hours after power is restored to bring up temperature in all of the buildings and assess the functioning in our systems."