More than 414,000 people were without power in Massachusetts on Wednesday morning when a nor’easter hit the region with downpours and high winds.
Power outages increased dramatically over the course of Wednesday morning. The number of people who were without power tripled in several hours, from 135,229 at 4 a.m. to 496,761 at 10:30 a.m.
In Connecticut right now, Eversource is reporting just over 6,000 outages and United Illuminating reports approximately 3,850 outages.
Eversource estimates that there could be between 40,000 and 80,000 power outages.
Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, National Grid reported that about 91,000 customers in Rhode Island were without power, with the largest outages in Pawtucket, Cranston, West Warwick and Bristol, according to WJAR.
In Maine, Central Power reports 26,541 power outages in the state. In New Hampshire, various companies report a total of 6,203 outages and in Vermont 108 are reported.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said he met with his administration’s public safety and emergency response officials Wednesday morning to discuss the storm’s impacts and response efforts. He said his administration is working with utilities to speed up recovery times, but damages are still being assessed.
Our administration is working with utilities to speed up recovery times, but crews are still assessing the level of damage.
If you are in an impacted community, please be careful: check in on neighbors, stay away from downed power lines and stay off the roads.
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— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) October 27, 2021
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At the height of the storm, wind gusts reached nearly 100 mph. The wind is expected to subside as the morning progresses, but it was still blowing around 70 mph outside the Cape early Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service urged people not to travel Wednesday morning, calling the conditions “dangerous,” with hurricane-force winds blowing across southeastern Massachusetts.
