ABC News(NEW YORK) — Over half a million people are in the dark across New England Thursday morning after a powerful Nor’easter struck overnight, bringing heavy rain, flooding and violent winds.
In the coastal Massachusetts town of Duxbury, Fire Capt. Rob Reardon told ABC News, “This whole town got hit pretty hard. You can tell by just the amount of trees, the wires, the damage to houses.”
“Roads are blocked, schools are shut down because school buses can’t access these streets at all,” Reardon said. “We’re having a difficult time trying to get to calls from one side of town to the other.”
“Luckily no injuries,” he added.
Over 500,000 customers were without power early Thursday across five states: Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
As the Nor’easter hammered the New England coast Wednesday night, the pounding wind gusts reached 90 mph on Cape Cod in Provincetown, and 70 mph in Boston.
On Long Island, winds gusted up to 54 mph and in Greenwich, Connecticut, winds reached 52 mph.
The most rainfall struck upstate New York, where some areas north of Albany saw up to 5 inches.
New London, Connecticut, saw 3 to 4 inches of rain, stranding people in cars. One person had to be rescued from a basement apartment, firefighters said.
The heaviest rain has left Washington, D.C., New York City and Boston, and is now hitting northern New York state and northern New England.
But strong wind gusts will be a major threat to D.C., New York City and Boston Thursday with winds forecast to reach more than 50 mph.
Northern New York and into Maine could see up to 3 more inches of rain Thursday.
Flooding is possible in northern New England Thursday morning and early afternoon.
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