Storm slams Northeast killing at least 5 people
PORTLAND, Maine — Just days before the Christmas holiday, people across the northeastern U.S. were mopping up Tuesday after a major storm dumped torrential rains and brought damaging winds from Pennsylvania to Maine, as some rivers in the region rose even higher. At least five people were killed.
In Hallowell, Maine, just south of the state capital of Augusta, the Kennebec River was over flood stage and still rising. Nathan Sennett, a cook at the Quarry Tap Room in town, was wading through hip-deep water to move furniture from a flooded patio and deal with a change in holiday-related business.
“We were supposed to have a couple of parties today and tomorrow, and just kind of sporadically throughout the weekend,” he said. “But obviously, we’ve had to cancel those.”
Utility crews worked to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers following the powerful storm that brought wind speeds over 60 mph to some areas.
“It was pretty loud, the wind was pretty strong, branches are breaking, things are flapping outside,” said Drew Landry of Hallowell, who lost power and was looking at a street that was under water Tuesday. “All the basements are pretty much flooded.”
Many communities got well over 3 inches of rain during the storm. Maine State Police were looking Tuesday for two people whose car was swept by floodwaters. Some towns in Vermont, which had suffered major flooding from a storm in July, were seeing more flood damage. Seventeen people were rescued from floodwaters in Conway, N.H., four of of them by helicopter.
More than 5 inches of rain fell in parts of New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania, and parts of several other states got more than 4 inches, according to the National Weather Service. Wind gusts reached nearly 70 mph along the southern New England shoreline.
In New Jersey, a house surrounded by floodwaters caught fire Tuesday in Lincoln Park and was engulfed by flames. Firefighters were unable to get to it. Police said it was unoccupied. Maine Gov. Janet Mills closed state offices Tuesday to allow time for power restoration and cleanup efforts from the storm, which took down many trees and closed roads.
“We are expecting a multi-day recovery effort,” she said.
In Portland, a 60-foot white pine tree came crashing down at the home of Ellen Briggs. Her neighbor, Nate Woodin, said he heard the collapse while wrapping Christmas gifts and it sounded like “a lightning crash.”
Ms. Briggs, who was not home at the time, was arranging for work crews to get the giant tree removed.
Pete Chagnon, 75, in Oxford, Maine, helped a couple of people remove a tree that was blocking a road, one of many that had fallen in his neighborhood.
“Since moving here (in 2015), I have seen some wicked storms, but yesterday took the cake,” said Mr. Chagnon, who lost power, but had a generator.