The April nor'easter has done serious damage to the Southern Tier. Thousands of people woke up without power Monday morning. Power is being restored, but as our Lara Greenberg tells us, it's been a long wait for some neighbors, where downed power lines have meant no heat.

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ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Tim Beard planned on waking up to his alarm clock Monday morning. Instead, he heard a loud snap from his front yard at 2:30 a.m.

"It was a big bang. So me and the wife got up and come out and this is what happened. I just can't wait until it's done and over with," said Tim Beard of Elmira.

Heavy snow and wind caused this tree in his front yard to crack.

Beard thinks this knocked down tree is the reason why power is out all along Pennsylvania Avenue. After all, it lowered power lines until a cable van knocked it down completely.

"You can't do nothing. You got to wait for NYSEG. The cops were here. They said to stay in the house away from the tree," he said.

Beard is one of more than 10,000 Southern Tier residents who woke up without power Monday.

"I'm pretty cold in our house," he said.

At its height, more than 8,000 people in Chemung County were without power, more than 2500 each in Southport and Elmira alone.

"We were trying to work over on another street. We didn't have any electric so we can't do anything there. They've got pipes broken. And we can't cut the pipes and replace them," said Rick Harvey, a landlord in Elmira.

NYSEG crews spent the day assessing and repairing downed power lines and blacked out traffic signals, but for Tim Beard, help couldn't come soon enough.

"The trees, you never know which way they're going," said Beard.

Power is expected to be restored everywhere by midnight Tuesday night.

The City of Elmira is urging people to call NYSEG if you've lost power and drivers should treat blacked out traffic signals as all-way stop signs.