Storm knocks out power in Northeast
New England outage could last several days
HARTFORD, Conn. — A severe storm packing hurricane-force wind gusts and soaking rain swept through the Northeast early Monday, knocking out power for nearly 1.5 million homes and businesses and forcing hundreds of schools to close in New England.
Falling trees knocked down power lines across the region, and some utility companies warned customers that power could be out for days. Trees also fell onto homes and vehicles, but no serious injuries were reported.
New England got the brunt of the storm, which brought sustained winds of up to 50 mph in spots. A gust of 130 mph was reported at the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire, while winds hit 82 mph in Mashpee on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Electricity was slowly being restored. More than 1.2 million homes and businesses still were without power in the Northeast late Monday afternoon, according to a tally of outages from utility companies in more than a half-dozen states.
Cities and towns in New England have pushed back trick-or-treating from Halloween night— Tuesday — to as late as Sunday evening due to safety concerns.
The storm system also caused problems in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. On the shoreline in Bayonne, New Jersey, a barge washed up after apparently breaking free from its moorings.
In New York, the rush hour got off to a rocky start as service on Metro-north’s Danbury Branch in Connecticut was suspended due to a mudslide and signal power problems.
Part of the Long Island Rail Road’s Ronkonkoma Branch was halted because of power lines on the tracks.